NHL Preview: Washington Capitals (10-12-4) at Edmonton Oilers (14-11-0)

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WASHINGTON CAPITALS NOTES:

LAST GAME
Washington 2, Calgary Flames 5
December 3, 2022 * Scotiabank Saddledome * Calgary, AB
Shots: WSH: 29; CGY: 36
Power Plays: WSH: 1/4; CGY: 0/3
Three Stars: 1. Backlund (CGY), 2. Ruzicka (CGY), 3. Mangiapane (CGY)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Loaned forward Connor McMichael to AHL Hershey, 11/20

INJURIES/ILLNESSES
Nicklas Backstrom: 10/12-12/3 (26 games)
Carl Hagelin: 10/12-12/3 (26 games)
Tom Wilson: 10/12-12/3 (26 games)
Connor Brown: 10/20/22-12/3/22 (22 games)
Beck Malenstyn: 11/3/22-12/3/22 (15 games)
Dmitry Orlov: 11/7/22-12/3/22 (13 games)
T.J. Oshie: 10/31/22-11/19/22 (11 games)
John Carlson: 10/31/22-11/9/22 (6 games)
Man Games Lost: 145

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Dec. 7, 7 p.m. ET at Philadelphia (NBCSW, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Dec. 9, 7 p.m. ET vs. Seattle (NBCSW+, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Dec. 11, 7 p.m. ET at Winnipeg (NBCSW, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Dec. 13, 9 p.m. ET at Chicago (ESPN, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Dec. 15, 7 p.m. ET vs. Dallas (NBCSW, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)

TONIGHT’S GAME
The Capitals visit the Edmonton Oilers on Monday at Rogers Place for the second of two meetings between the teams this season. Monday’s contest marks the fifth game (1-2-1) of a season-long six-game road trip for Washington. The Capitals defeated the Oilers 5-4 on Nov. 7 at Capital One Arena. Evgeny Kuznetsov (2g, 2a), Dylan Strome (2g, 1a) and Alex Ovechkin (1g, 1a) each recorded multiple points as Washington scored four power play goals in the victory. In addition, Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves, including 12 in the third period, to earn his first win at home as a Capital. The Capitals have a record of 40-31-6-3 all-time vs. Edmonton and are 9-4-3 in their last 16 games against the Oilers, dating back to the 2013-14 season.

AWAY vs. EDMONTON OILERS
Record Goals For Goals Against Streak
14-20-4-2 122 154 3 EDM wins (10/25/18-3/9/22)
CAPITALS vs. OILERS ALL-TIME (CAREER TOTALS)
Games Goals Assists Points
Oshie (32) Ovechkin (14) Oshie (19) Oshie (28)
Ovechkin (21) Oshie (9) Carlson (14) Ovechkin (25)
Eller (20) Kuznetsov (8) Ovechkin (11) Backstrom/Carlson (15)

POINT STREAKS
Conor Sheary – 2 game point streak (2g, 1a), 2 game goal streak (2g)

TOP CAPS FACTS
25 Years at Capital One Arena

  • Monday marks the 25th anniversary of the Capitals’ first game at Capital One Arena (originally called MCI Center). The Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers, 3-2, in overtime (Jeff Toms scored the game-winner 3:32 into the overtime period) in their inaugural game on Dec. 5, 1997.
  • The Capitals have a record of 539-283-34-90 (1,202 points, .636 point percentage) in 946 regular-season games at Capital One Arena. Washington has the fourth-most home wins, the third-most home points and the third-highest point percentage (excluding Vegas) in the NHL since Dec. 5, 1997.
  • The Capitals have scored 2,893 regular-season goals at Capital One Arena. Alex Ovechkin (422 in 716 GP), Nicklas Backstrom (155 in 594 GP) and Peter Bondra (130 in 263 GP) are the top-three goal scorers in the arena’s history. In addition, Washington has scored 231 goals in 92 playoff games at Capital One Arena.
  • Capitals players have scored 36 hat tricks during the regular season and three hat tricks in the playoffs at Capital One Arena. Alex Ovechkin (15), Peter Bondra (6) and Alexander Semin (5) have the most regular season hat tricks at Capital One Arena.
  • 24 Capitals goaltenders have earned a win at Capital One Arena, with the winningest goaltenders being Olie Kolzig (179 in 364 GP), Braden Holtby (177 in 286 GP) and Michal Neuvirth (41 in 75 GP).
  • 309 different players have played for the Capitals at Capital One Arena (282 skaters; 27 goaltenders).
  • A total of 17,400,952 fans have attended Capitals’ regular season and playoff games at Capital One Arena.
    Information courtesy of NHL Stats

400 for Hath

  • Garnet Hathaway is expected to play in his 400th career regular-season game on Monday at Edmonton.
  • Hathaway has played 224 of his 399 career games with Washington (also 175 games played with the Calgary Flames).
  • Hathaway’s 224 games played are the most on the Capitals since 2019-20, his first season with the team. During that span, Hathaway has played in 96.1 percent of Washington’s games.
  • In 399 career games, Hathaway has recorded 104 points (47g, 57a).
  • Among active forwards that went undrafted, Hathaway ranks 12th in games played (399).
  • This season, Hathaway ranks first on the Capitals in hits (99) and second in penalties drawn (13).

300 for Stromer

  • Dylan Strome is expected to play in his 300th career regular-season game on Monday at Edmonton.
  • Strome, who signed with Washington as free agent this past summer, has appeared in all 26 of the Capitals’ games this season.
  • Strome has also played in 48 games with the Arizona Coyotes and 225 games with the Chicago Blackhawks.
  • Strome has recorded 19 points (5g, 14a) in 26 games this season. Strome ranks second on the Capitals in points, power-play points (2g-7a—9p), and ranks tied for second in assists (14).
  • Strome ranks tied for first on Washington in multi-assist games (3) and second in multi-point games (5).
  • Through 26 games, Strome is averaging 17:01 of ice time, which ranks third among Capitals forwards (Alex Ovechkin: 20:39; Evgeny Kuznetsov: 18:22). Prior to the start of this season, Strome had averaged 16:02 of ice time per game in his career.

1,300 for Ovi

  • Alex Ovechkin played in his 1,300th career regular-season game on Saturday at Calgary.
  • Ovechkin became the 14th player in NHL history to play 1,300 games with one franchise.
  • Per NHL Stats, Ovechkin is just the second first overall pick to play in 1,300+ regular season games with the team that drafted them, joining Mike Modano (first overall pick in 1988) who played in 1,459 games with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars.
  • Ovechkin’s 793 career goals are the second most by a player at the time of their 1,300th career game, behind only Wayne Gretzky (853 goals in 1,300 games).
  • Among players that have reached the 1,300-game mark, Ovechkin’s 1,435 career points are the ninth most in NHL history by a player at the time of their 1,300th game (courtesy of NHL Stats).

Player Teams Games Played Goals Assists Points
Wayne Gretzky EDM, LAK, STL, NYR 1,300 853 1,817 2,670
Marcel Dionne DET, LAK, NYR 1,300 722 1,021 1,743
Jaromir Jagr PIT, WSH, NYR, PHI 1,300 656 969 1,625
Steve Yzerman DET 1,300 644 963 1,607
Mark Messier EDM, NYR, VAN 1,300 585 988 1,573
Joe Sakic QUE/COL 1,300 601 963 1,564
Paul Coffey EDM, PIT, LAK, DET,
HFD, PHI, CHI, CAR
1,300 385 1,100 1,485
Ron Francis HFD, PIT, CAR 1,300 438 1,026 1,464

Alex Ovechkin WSH 1,300 793 642 1,435

  • Ovechkin has played in 1,300 of the Capitals’ 1,347 games (96.5%) since entering the League in 2005-06. That’s the sixth-highest percentage of games played in NHL history among skaters that have played with one team at their respective 1,300-game marks (courtesy of NHL Stats).

Player Team Player Games Played Team Games Played Percentage of GP
Henrik Sedin VAN 1,300 1,330 97.74%
Nicklas Lidstrom DET 1,300 1,331 97.67%
Patrick Marleau SJS 1,300 1,331 97.67%
Alex Delvecchio DET 1,300 1,337 97.23%
Gordie Howe DET 1,300 1,341 96.94%
Alex Ovechkin WSH 1,300 1,347 96.51%

Road Goals

  • Alex Ovechkin scored his 402nd and 403rd career road goals on Nov. 29 at Vancouver, moving him past Wayne Gretzky (402) for the most in NHL history.
  • Ovechkin has scored 403 of his 793 career goals (50.8%) on the road, compared to 390 (49.2%) at home.
  • Wayne Gretzky scored his 402nd and final road goal in his 720th career road game (0.56 G/GP). Ovechkin scored his 402nd and 403rd road goals in his 652nd career road game (0.62 G/GP).
  • Since Ovechkin’s rookie year in 2005-06, only 11 players have more total goals than Ovechkin has road goals (403).
  • Ovechkin has scored 144 of his NHL-record 291 power play goals (49.5%) on the road.
  • Ovechkin has scored 54 of his 124 career game-winning goals (43.5%) on the road.

Approaching 800

  • Ovechkin is seven goals shy of becoming the third player in NHL history to score 800 career goals and nine goals shy of passing Gordie Howe (801) for second on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
  • Ovechkin (currently at 157 GP) can require the fewest games between milestone goals No. 700 and No. 800 and become the first to make the jump in fewer than 200 contests (Wayne Gretzky: 231 GP from Jan. 3, 1991 to March 20, 1994; Gordie Howe: 256 GP from Dec. 4, 1968 to Feb. 29, 1980).*
  • After reaching the 700-goal milestone on Feb. 22, 2020, against the Devils, the Capitals’ captain has found the back of the net 93 times since – an average of 0.60 goals-per-game over that span, a rate just shy of his overall career average (0.61 G/GP). Gretzky’s goals-per-game rate from No. 700 to No. 800 was 0.44, while Howe’s was 0.39.*
  • Ovechkin ranks first in NHL history in power play goals (291) and overtime goals (25), second in game-winning goals (124) and multigoal ames (160), and fourth in even strength goals (497).
  • Ovechkin’s first goal on Nov. 29 at Vancouver marked his 135th career game-opening goal, tying him with Jaromir Jagr for the most in NHL history.
  • Ovechkin has recorded 25 points (13g, 12a) in 26 games this season, which leads the Capitals. Ovechkin has recorded 11 points (5g, 6a) in his last eight games, which includes five multi-point efforts during that span.
  • Ovechkin is on pace to score 41 goals this season. Should Ovechkin reach the 40-goal mark, it would mark his 13th career 40-goal season, passing Gretzky (12) for the most in NHL history.
    *Information from NHL Stats’ “The Road to 800” stats pack

Chuck Stops Here

  • Charlie Lindgren stopped 25 of 29 shots faced in Washington’s previous match-up against Edmonton on Nov. 7, earning his second win of the season and his first at home as a Capital.
  • Lindgren made 12 of his 25 saves in the third period, a period in which the Capitals led for all 20 minutes.
  • In 37 career games, Lindgren has a record of 17-15-4 with a 2.89 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage with two shutouts. Shear It Up
  • Conor Sheary scored a power play goal on Saturday at Calgary, his second-straight game with a power play goal.
  • Sheary has scored nine goals this season, which ranks second on the Capitals, trailing only Alex Ovechkin (13).
  • Sheary has scored six of his goals at five-on-five, two on the power play and one shorthanded. Sheary is one of four players in the NHL this season to score at least six even strength goals, two power play goals and one shorthanded goal, joining Buffalo’s Tage Thompson, Vancouver’s Bo Horvat and Montreal’s Nick Suzuki.
  • With 14 points (9g, 5a) in 26 games, Sheary is on pace to record 28 goals and 44 points this season. Should Sheary maintain his scoring pace, he would establish a new career high in goals (2016-17: 23) and surpass his point total from last season (43).
  • Since joining the Capitals ahead of the 2020-21 season, Sheary ranks second on Washington in goals with 42 (Ovechkin: 87) and second in goals at five-on-five with 32 (Ovechkin: 43).

Clutch Carly

  • John Carlson scored his eighth goal of the season on Saturday at Calgary.
  • Carlson has scored six of his eight goals in the third period. Carlson’s six third-period goals lead the Capitals. In addition, Carlson has recorded two of his six assists in the third period.
  • Seven of Carlson’s eight goals have come when the Capitals have trailed, with two being game-tying goals in games the Capitals won (Oct. 17 vs. VAN; Oct. 22 vs. LAK).
  • Carlson has scored six goals in his last nine games and his eight goals this season rank tied for second among NHL defensemen.

At The Dot

  • The Capitals won 34 of 61 faceoffs (55.7%) on Saturday at Calgary, marking their seventh-highest win percentage in a single game this season.
  • Since Nov. 1, the Capitals have won 52.4 percent of their faceoffs, which is tied for the seventh-highest win percentage in the NHL during that span.
  • Lars Eller has won 57.1 percent of his faceoffs since Nov. 1, which ranks 12th in the NHL during that span (min. 175 faceoffs taken).

Penalty Skill

  • The Capitals have killed off 53 of 63 power plays (84.1 percent) over their last 21 games, dating back to Oct. 22. During that span, Washington’s 84.1 penalty kill percentage ranks second in the NHL.
  • Washington has drawn 117 penalties this season – tied for the fourth most in the NHL – and their +17 net penalty differential ranks second in the NHL.
  • Nic Dowd leads the Capitals and ranks tied for sixth in the NHL with 14 drawn penalties this season, while Garnet Hathaway ranks tied for 10th with 13.

Comeback Caps

  • The Capitals overcame a one-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Flyers 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 23. It marked Washington’s third win this season when trailing after two periods, which is tied for the third most in the NHL.

Did You Know?

  • The Capitals are 10-1-1 when scoring three or more goals this season.
  • Washington has scored a power play goal in five of their last six games (five goals on 18 opportunities = 27.8%).
  • Washington’s 690 hits this season are the sixth most in the NHL, through games played Dec. 3.
  • The Capitals blocked 25 shots on Thursday at Seattle, marking their second-highest total in a single game this season. The Capitals rank tied for fifth in the NHL in blocked shots (399), through games played Dec. 3.
  • The Capitals have a record of 5-1-2 against Pacific Division opponents this season.

EDMONTON OILERS NOTES:

EDMONTON OILERS VS. WASHINGTON CAPITALS
6:30 p.m. MT at Rogers Place

BROADCAST INFO: 630 CHED Radio, Sportsnet
14-11-0 – 28 PTS RECORD 10-12-4 – 24 PTS
Div. – 4th Conference – 7th RANK Div. – 6th Conference – 12th
3rd –29.4% (27/92) POWER PLAY 21st – 20.7% (19/92)
28th – 70.4% (69/98) PENALTY KILL 8th – 80.5% (62/77)

ALL-TIME RECORDS vs. WASHINGTON GP RECORD HOME (40) AWAY (40) GF GA
OILERS ALL-TIME vs. WASHINGTON 80 34-38-6-2 22-14-4-0 12-24-2-2 276 277
OILERS vs. WASHINGTON – 2022-23 1 0-1-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 0 0

QUICK FACTS
• Monday’s game will mark Edmonton’s second of two games against Washington this season and the lone game in Edmonton.

• The last time these teams met was on November 7 in Washington where the Capitals won 5-4.

• Evander Kane leads the team lead with 29 career points against Washington and has also appeared in a team leading 37 career games against the Capitals.

THREE OF A KIND
On Dec. 1 at Minnesota, Tyler Benson, Stuart Skinner and James Hamblin all played for the Edmonton Oilers marking the first time in NHL history where three players who played on the same minor hockey team (SSAC U14 AAA) played a game for the same team in the NHL.

BOUCHARD’S LATE GOAL MAGIC
On Nov. 28 vs. Florida, Evan Bouchard scored the game-tying goal in the final five seconds of regulation before Connor McDavid (1G, 2A – 3PTS) capped off his three-point performance with an assist on Leon Draisaitl’s overtime winner.

OVERTIME WINNER
Connor McDavid scored the overtime winning goal on Nov.19 vs. Vegas. The goal marked his 14th career overtime goal and he ranks first in the NHL in overtime goals since 2015-16.

MOST OVERTIME GOALS SINCE 2015-16
Connor McDavid – 14
Jonathan Toews – 13
Brad Marchand – 13
Sidney Crosby – 12

POWER PLAY PUNCH
Leon Draisaitl scored his 100th career power play goal on Nov. 21 against New Jersey and recorded his 101st power play goal which also stood as the game winning goal on Nov. 26 against the New York Rangers. Draisaitl holds sole possession of 5th spot all-time in Oilers power play goals and is just 25 goals shy of the all-time lead held by Glenn Anderson and Ryan Smyth. Draisaitl is six power play goals from tying Jari Kurri (107) for 4th on the Oilers power play goals list.

500 AND COUNTING
Following his 500th career game on Nov. 7 at WSH, Connor McDavid finished ranked 6th all-time in NHL scoring (724 PTS) in your first 500 games. McDavid became the 9th player in Oilers franchise history to score a goal in his 500th NHL game, joining the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Leon Draisaitl.

200 CLUB
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his 200th career goal with the Oilers on Oct. 26 at STL which stood as the game winning goal. NugentHopkins becomes just the ninth player in Oilers history to record 200 goals with the Oilers and has achieved the mark in 726 games all with the Oilers.

SHOOTING GALLERY
The Oilers posted a franchise high 26 shots on goal in one period on Oct. 24 vs. PIT. The previous record of 24 shots was done three times and most recently against Calgary on Feb. 1/20. Evander Kane also posted a team high nine shots against the Penguins and tied an Oilers record for most shots in a period by a player, recording eight shots in the second period. Taylor Hall co-holds the record, posting eight shots previously on Feb. 19/11 vs. ATL). Kane holds the league record of 10 shots in a period by a player, which he recorded on Nov. 1/18 against Columbus as a member of the San Jose Sharks.

McDAVID HITS 700-POINT MARK WITH SEASON-OPENING HAT TRICK
With Edmonton trailing 3-0 midway through the second period, Oilers captain Connor McDavid factored on four of his club’s five consecutive goals, capping off the night with the NHL’s first hat trick of the 2022-23 season. McDavid (3-1—4) boosted his career totals to 242-459—701 (488 GP) and became the fastest active player to reach the 700-point milestone.

  • The three-goal performance marked the second season-opening hat trick of McDavid’s career (also Oct. 4, 2017) as he became the third player in NHL history to record multiple hat tricks in season openers alongside Brendan Shanahan (2) and Cam Neely (2).
  • The Oilers overcame a three-goal deficit to win a season-opening game for the first time in franchise history. Edmonton became just the ninth club in NHL history to do so and the first since Anaheim on Oct. 5, 2017. Coincidentally, the Ducks overcame a 3-1 deficit Wednesday night to record their second-ever multi-goal comeback win in a season opener.

LAST 10 GAMES vs. WASHINGTON
Record: 5-4-1
GF: 31 GA: 29
2022-23 11/7/22 @ WSH 5-4 L
2021-22 3/9/22 @ EDM 4-3 W (OT)
2021-22 2/2/22 @ WSH 5-3 W
2019-20 10/24/19 @ EDM 4-3 W (OT)
2018-19 11/05/18 @ WSH 4-2 L
2018-19 10/25/18 @ EDM 4-1 W
2017-18 11/12/17 @ WSH 2-1 L (SO)
2017-18 10/28/17 @ EDM 5-2 L
2016-17 2/24/17 @ WSH 2-1 L
2016-17 10/26/16 @ EDM 4-1 W

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 9 F Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin recalled from Bakersfield (AHL)
F Evander Kane placed on LTIR
Nov. 17 F Tyler Benson loaned to Bakersfield on conditioning assignment (AHL)
Nov. 18 F Brad Malone recalled from Bakersfield (AHL)
Nov. 25 D Philip Broberg recalled from Bakersfield (AHL)
D Markus Niemelainen assigned to Bakersfield (AHL)
Nov. 27 F James Hamblin and F Tyler Benson recalled from Bakersfield (AHL)
F Kailer Yamamoto and F Ryan McLeod placed on IR

OILERS IN DECEMBER
Overall – 530 GP, 233-221-42-34 – 0.511
2022-23 – 2 GP, 1-1-0 – 2 PTS
2021-22 –12 GP, 3-8-1 – 7 PTS

OILERS IN NOVEMBER
Overall – 545 GP, 239-230-52-23, 0.507
2022-23 – 13 GP, 7-6-0, 14 PTS
2021-22 – 13 GP, 9-4-0-0, 18 PTS