Dubois has goal, assist, Capitals edge Oilers for 5th straight win

EDMONTON -- Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist for the Washington Capitals, who pushed their win streak to five games with a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

Matt Roy and Tom Wilson also scored, and Logan Thompson made 30 saves for the Capitals (32-10-5), who have earned points in 11 straight games (8-0-3). Edmonton was their first stop on a five-game road trip.

"It was a lot of fun, I don’t think I ever beat these guys,” Thompson said. "It’s a great atmosphere, it kind of felt like a playoff game.

"Credit to the guys, we stuck with it and that’s kind of been the way the whole year. It was a huge two points to start this trip.”

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, Corey Perry scored, and Stuart Skinner made 11 saves for the Oilers (29-15-3), who have lost two in a row after winning their previous four. It was the first time since Nov. 6 the Oilers lost back-to-back games in regulation.

"I think that’s one of our better games that we’ve played defensively," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I don’t think we gave up very much, a couple off the rush, yes. We’re never going to play a perfect game, the other team is going to get scoring chances but I don’t think there were very many tonight.”

Draisaitl put the Oilers ahead 1-0 at 3:02 of the first period after winning an offensive-zone face-off and skating into the slot to take a pass from the point by Darnell Nurse, backhanding it up and in off Thompson’s pad for his League-leading 34th goal of the season.

With Oilers captain Connor McDavid serving the first of a three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland on Saturday, Draisaitl was the only player on either side in Tuesday’s game with an active point streak, pushing it to seven games (12 points; five goals, seven assists).

"We're a pretty good team in here, we have a lot of good players,” Perry said of McDavid’s absence. “He’s been out earlier in the year and we took care of business.

"You can’t fill his spot but you can adapt, and I think guys have done that.”

Wilson tied it 1-1 at 9:01 with his 20th of the season on a giveaway off a failed drop pass at the other end by Viktor Arvidsson, resulting in a 2-on-1 that saw Aliaksei Protas send a saucer pass across the crease for the putaway past Skinner’s glove.

"You can’t take it for granted scoring goals, it’s a huge privilege and scoring 20 is something that is always a goal,” Wilson said. “And coming into this league, it’s something I wanted to be able to do at least a couple of times. I’m playing with a lot of good players right now and this year they are finding me in good spots and I’m making it count, so I’ll take it when it comes.”

Roy put Washington ahead 2-1 at 8:14 of the second period, with a slap shot off a one-timer from the point through a crowd in front of the crease that beat Skinner low glove side.

"I know there weren’t some parts and periods of it where we weren’t as clean as we like, but once again this team and the way we’ve done all year long, we find a way to grind through and kill off a penalty in the second period,” said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery. “To me, the second period was what I was most impressed with.

"The second period has been an issue for us, Edmonton is one of the best second period teams in the NHL and we get out of that period 1-0.”

Dubois made it 3-1 at 3:49 of the third period, putting in the rebound off a shot by Lars Eller that bounced straight back to him off the post.

Perry made it 3-2 at 4:50, one-timing a pass from Draisaitl at the top of the right circle past Thompson’s glove. The Capitals goalie immediately pointed the officials to a tray of nachos that had been littered onto the ice from the stands, mid-play.

"That's a first. We just talked about it in the coach’s office, I don’t think I’ve ever seen nachos on the ice in a National Hockey League game,” Spencer said. “I don’t think there is much they can do.

"I didn’t even notice them, and the guys were yelling there were nachos on the ice. I don’t know, can we challenge that? It was good.”

NOTES: With 30 saves, Thompson improved to 10-0-1 in his last 11 appearances dating to Dec. 22, 2024, and became the fifth different goaltender in franchise history with an 11-game point streak. ... The Capitals extended their win streak to five games for the second time this season after previously doing so from Oct. 15-23, 2024. The only other teams with multiple streaks of that length this campaign are the Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche (all with two). ... Washington (32-10-5, 69 points) increased its lead in the President’s Trophy race to four points on the next-closest team, Winnipeg (31-14-3, 65 points). The Capitals can become the fourth franchise to win the Presidents' Trophy four times, after previously doing so in 2009-10, 2015-16 and 2016-17. They would join the Detroit Red Wings (six times), Boston Bruins (four times) and New York Rangers (four times). ... Each teams power play went 0-for-3 ... Draisaitl (71 points; 34 goals, 37 assists) reached the 70-point mark in 47 games or fewer for the third time in his career after also doing so in 2022-23 (44 games) and in 2019-20 (47 games). The only Oilers players to reach the mark as many times in a single season are Wayne Gretzky (nine times; fewest was 25 games in 1984-85 and 1983-84), McDavid (five times; fewest was 37 games in 2022-23) and Jari Kurri (four times; fewest was 34 games in 1984-85).