WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins broke a tie with a short-handed goal with 4:03 remaining in the Edmonton Oilers’ 5-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break.
Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-net goal with 1:05 remaining to wrap up the Oilers’ fifth victory in six games.
Washington played without Alex Ovechkin after he entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols Wednesday. The Russian star also will miss the All-Star Game.
Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane and Connor McDavid scored goals in the first 5:07 to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead. Mikko Koskinen stopped 24 shots.
Lars Eller, Conor Sheary and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for Washington.
After allowing three goals and stopping just one shot, Ilya Samsonov was replaced by Pheonix Copley, who stopped 22 shots.
Draisaitl, heading to his third All-Star Game, scored 1:30seconds into the game. It was his 32nd goal, and the sixth in his last six games.
In his third game since signing with the Oilers on Jan. 27, Kane scored his second goal at 3:01 of the first, his 21st in 35 career games against the Capitals, by far his most against any opponent.
McDavid’s 23rd goal, and the fourth in his last six games, gave Edmonton a 3-0 lead. He’ll play in his fifth All-Star Game.
Eller scored for Washington at 7:36 of the first, and Sheary at 9:16 of the second. Kuznetsov, who’ll be playing in his second All-Star Game, tied it at 3 at 2:48 of the third.
NOTES: Copley appeared in his first NHL game since April 6, 2019. He replaced Vitak Vanecek, who suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s win at Pittsburgh. … Capitals D Justin Schultz, who assisted on Eller’s goal, has assists in three straight games. … Oilers F Cody Ceci assisted on the first two goals, his first game with multiple points since Nov. 11. … Edmonton D Tyson Barrie was activated from long-term injured reserve, and Slater Koekkoek was waived and assigned to Bakersfield of the AHL.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Host Vegas on Tuesday night.
Capitals: Host Columbus on Tuesday night.
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
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