Monday’s Capitals-Oilers game started late at 8 pm and was aired on national TV in Canada. That fact didn’t seem to be lost on the teams’ captains, Alex Ovechkin and Connor McDavid, who seemingly tried to outdo each other at every step.
A wildly entertaining five-goal second period saw both Ovechkin and McDavid score in the same game for the third time in their careers. It previously happened in November 5, 2018 and October 24, 2019 Caps-Oilers’ games.
McDavid got on the board first, scoring a dazzler at four-on-four during his 500th career game. The superstar center took a pass at the point, skated past Dylan Strome, and slid the puck behind a poke-checking Charlie Lindgren. It looked like child’s play.
Ovechkin answered 6:03 later, scoring with a wrister on a power play.
In the third period, the Oilers tried to look for the tying goal and there was even more incredible offensive creativity on display. With just under ten minutes to go, McDavid got around Erik Gustafsson and received a pass as he was skating to the net. He then held onto the puck until Charlie Lindgren fell to the ice. But as McDavid shot, Lindgren dove to knock the puck away with his outstretched arms.
Then it was time for Alex Ovechkin to shine again. Ovi went in alone against two different Oilers defenders. He put the puck through one’s legs and then spun on a dime in the slot to give him a wide-open shot on Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner. Skinner made the miracle stop.
got him in the blender pic.twitter.com/qpPrjtc4oZ
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) November 8, 2022
Here’s another look.
SO close. #CapsOilers pic.twitter.com/QzltGhi17A
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) November 8, 2022
Skinner would not have the same luck shortly after though as Ovi and Evgeny Kuznetsov came down on a power play two-on-one. Ovechkin went no-look through his legs to find Kuzy wide-open for the slam dunk goal.
“I knew he was going to pass,” Kuznetsov said postgame laughing.
McDavid ended the night with a goal and an assist along with five shots. Ovechkin had a goal and an assist and five shots.
“Superstars try to one up each other and both of them were absolutely fabulous tonight,” NBC Sports Washington’s Craig Laughlin said.
McDavid point totals through each 100-game segment thus far.
Game 1-100: 34-74-108.
Games 101-200: 46-84-130.
Games 201-300: 54-102-156.
Games 301-400: 57-105-162.
Games 401-499: 60-106-166.His 722 points in 499 games is 6th most through 500 games played. @DailyFaceoff
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) November 7, 2022
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
