The Washington Capitals take on the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday night — a difficult challenge considering the insane run the Oilers have been on recently.
Since firing head coach Jay Woodcroft on November 12, the Oilers are 36-12-2, which includes a 16-game winning streak. After a 3-9-2 start, the Oilers have risen to second in the Pacific Division as they sport a one-two punch of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
McDavid just recently eclipsed the 100-point mark in a season for the seventh time in his career while Draisaitl has a 30-plus goal season for the sixth consecutive year. And they’re both doing this on separate lines.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was asked about the Oilers’ superstars after practice on Tuesday and he decided to back his teammates instead.
How do you prepare for a team that has Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on separate lines?
Alex Ovechkin: Well we have Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre on different lines so… we’re good. [nods]
While Ovechkin is joking, he might be on to something, too. Hendrix Lapierre, the Capitals’ current first-line center, has more goals (5) in the last seven games than McDavid (3) while McMichael, known (by some Capitals fans only) as The Best Connor Mc In The League, recently scored his most electric goal of his NHL career.
Regardless of the young talent the Capitals have, the team will need to play its best against the Oilers. In the two teams’ previous matchup in November, Edmonton won 5-0 at Capital One Arena. McDavid had four assists while Draisaitl scored two power-play goals.
The Capitals, who are in the middle of a five-game road trip, are coming off a 3-0 shutout loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
“Everybody going to try their best,” Ovechkin said. “We have to play better than last game.”
