The Washington Capitals put together one of their most lively performances of the season against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday afternoon. The Caps found the end zone again, sending the Oilers packing with a 7-3 win.
Great game from so many guys. They were on it from puck drop.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2025-02-23
#ALLCAPS
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) February 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
- The Capitals were in control of the game from puck drop. Their first period, despite trailing for a lot of it, was their best period statistically. At five-on-five, they out-attempted Edmonton 23-12, out-scoring chanced them 16-8, and out-high danger chanced them 9-4. Without McDavid buying that bogus tripping penalty, the first frame would have been near perfect. They created 4.42 expected goals in the game overall, their best output since January 4 against the New York Rangers (5.74).
- Alex Ovechkin was obviously the big story of the game as Ovi potted his 32nd career hat trick and moved 13 goals away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time goals record. He also tied Jaromir Jagr for the most game-winning goals (135) in NHL history and added goaltender Calvin Pickard to his record list of 181 different goaltenders scored against. Ovi has 29 goals in 41 games this season, which is seventh best in the league despite him missing 16 games due to a broken leg. Without the missed games, he’d be on pace for a 58-goal season.
- The Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Aliaksei Protas first line combined for nine points (4g, 5a). Strome, the team’s leading scorer, is back above a point-per-game pace after his three-point (1g, 2a) night. He’s on pace for an 83-point (26g, 57a) year, which would be a new single-season career-high. Protas also hit the 50-point mark for the first time in his career with his three assists. The big Belorussian is on pace for 72 points (33g, 39a) at the end of the season.
With their 7-3 win over Edmonton, the Capitals improved to 7-4-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. Washington's seven wins in the second game of back-to-backs are the most in the NHL.
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) February 23, 2025
- Pierre-Luc Dubois was outstanding in his direct line matchup against McDavid. In his 11:30 of shared five-on-five ice time with McDavid, the Capitals saw positive differentials in shot attempts (+8), scoring chances (+3), and high-danger chances (+2). McDavid finished a minus-3 with one assist on that bogus first-period power play. Dubois also recorded an assist to give him 48 points (13g, 35a) in 57 games this year. He has six points (1g, 5a) in his last three games.
- The Capitals are on pace for 121 standings points, which would tie the franchise-best mark set by the 2009-10 team. Washington’s current 16-game home point streak (11-0-5) is also only bested by a 17-game run (16-0-1) by that 2009-10 team.
- Connor McMichael hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career. McMichael has points in four straight games and seven points (3g, 4a) in his last seven games.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
