Nugent-Hopkins scores 2 goals late to lead Oilers past Capitals
Washington played without Alex Ovechkin after he entered COVID-19 protocols
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.
"We put ourselves, obviously, in a good position early in the game and it's not like we stopped playing," Nugent-Hopkins said. "They just had a push, and they fought their way back in the game. But we stuck with it as much as we could and found a way to get it done."
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 21 shots.
Copley was substituting for Vitek Vanecek, who suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday's overtime win at Pittsburgh.
"I train always to be prepared even when I'm backing up just in case something happens and I have to go in," Copley said. "This time it was almost a full game. It was nice to get back on the ice. Obviously it's a tough loss for us."
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.
