The Capitals were in Edmonton to play the Oilers and both the calls and bounces just did not go their way. The boys clad in white dropped the match up 4-1 and will now head to Calgary hoping to get out of this western swing on a high note.
The Caps and Oilers both fired 32 shots, but the Caps held a decided five-on-five shot attempt advantage 58 to 45.
- I’m not too sure what to make of this one. It was just a strange game full of mysterious penalty calls and a lot of sloppiness from the Caps top forwards. As a whole, looking purely at shot attempts, scoring chances, and high danger chances at five-on-five the Caps dominated even strength play even when you score and venue adjust the stats. There were still far too many grade-A Oilers chances for Braden Holtby to combat, but I think a mix of Cam Talbot being stellar, too many penalties taken, and not enough drawn in their favor is what did the Caps in Thursday night.
- I said we’d take a look at the fourth line in the recap because I thought they looked great from purely an eye test standpoint. Newsflash, I’m a genius. Not only did they contribute the only Capitals goal of the night, they were not on the ice for any five-on-five goals against. Lets pluck just Dmitrij Jaskin‘s numbers out for a more specific look. When Jaskin was on the ice at five-on-five the Caps heavily controlled the shot attempt battle (15 to 3), scoring chance battle (5 to 1), and the high danger chance battle (3 to 0).
- That aforementioned goal was Andre Burakovksy‘s first of the season, assisted by a great play from Nic Dowd. Burky was the best Caps skater out there for me and I would not be surprised if he moves up the lineup in Calgary.
- John Carlson also tallied an assist on the only Caps goal. That gives him 14 points on the season, which is now good for the team lead. He holds the Caps record for most points in October by a defenseman.
- The Flames got utterly blasted by the Penguins, 9-1. They are not going to be a happy hockey team when the Caps come to town.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com, NaturalStatTrick.com, and Corsica.hockey.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Oilers
Headline Photo: Andy Devlin
