Bouchard has 6 points, McDavid scores OT winner for Oilers against Capitals

EDMONTON -- Evan Bouchard scored his first career hat trick and had three assists in his 400th NHL game, and the Edmonton Oilers won 6-5 in overtime against the Washington Capitals at Rogers Place on Saturday.

Connor McDavid scored the winner on a breakaway 47 seconds into overtime, taking Bouchard's clearing pass from out of the defensive zone and lifting a backhand over Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren at the net for his second goal of the game.

“As good a game as I've seen from a D-man, special,” McDavid said. “You know, that's his level. His best is among the best in the world. Not just D-men. Players.

“He's first over the boards for the penalty kill. He can do a lot of different things. Just keeps getting better and better.”

McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had three assists for the Oilers (26-19-8), who had lost two in a row. Connor Ingram made nine saves on Washington’s first 12 shots before being pulled for Tristan Jarry, who stopped 13 of 15.

“Well, three goals on very few shots. But also I probably didn't see it properly, the third goal,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said of making the change. “It went off one of our defensemen and redirected it. So, I thought it came right straight in.

“But also, sometimes your team needs a little bit of a change of momentum. And maybe that's not fair for Ingram, because it was an unfortunate bounce, but a lot of it had to do with momentum.”

Connor McMichael and Justin Sourdif each had a goal and an assist, and Tom Wilson and John Carlson each had two assists for the Capitals (25-21-7), who have lost five of their past six games (1-4-1). Lindgren made 34 saves.

“I loved our game tonight, I thought our guys fought like hell tonight,” said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery, whose team won 3-1 at the Calgary Flames on Friday. “It’s as difficult a game as we have on the schedule, and then you put in the travel, last night getting in at 4 a.m.

“Just the way we fought through the adversity of the game, the ups and downs. We were up, and now it’s back to even, I’m just real proud of the way we played tonight.”

Bouchard put the Oilers up 1-0 with 48 seconds left in the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Mattias Ekholm and scoring on a wrist shot from the point off the left post.

Just 22 seconds later, Aliaksei Protas tied it 1-1, picking up the rebound off a shot from the slot by Rasmus Sandin and backhanding it past Ingram’s extended stick at 19:34.

The Oilers outshot Washington 10-2 in the opening period.

Bouchard gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 4:13 of the second period, with another wrist shot from the high slot that went in off Lindgren’s glove. The goalie ended up tossing his trapper into the net as he reached back for the puck.

Draisaitl recorded the 600th assist of his career on the play.

Sourdif tied it 2-2 at 6:50 on a 2-on-1 rush alongside McMichael, winning a chase for the puck in the neutral zone and then pulling up at the left dot to take a wrist shot that beat Ingram near post.

Anthony Beauvillier gave Washington a 3-2 lead at 14:29, sending a wrist shot from the boards at the far edge of the left circle that bounced off the skate boot of Oilers defenseman Spencer Stastney and through Ingram’s legs.

“If we play like that every night, we give ourselves a really good chance to win some games,” Beauvillier said. “That’s just the way it goes sometimes, it’s been a grind lately. But I think we gave ourselves the best chance to win tonight and this is how it’s going to have to look if we want to win.

“It’s still a huge point for us, but it’s unfortunate when it ends like that.”

Bouchard tied it 3-3 at 4:30 of the third period, skating into the slot and firing a wrist shot high off the left post.

“Never had a hat trick. It’s my first one,” Bouchard said. “I was definitely excited. It kept us in the game, it was a big goal for us at the time.

“That was huge for us, being down in the last minute and not quitting, getting the tying goal, it’s a big home stand for us, but we have to build off that and keep it going the next game.”

Dylan Strome put Washington ahead 4-3 on the power play at 6:40 with a wrist shot from the point that deflected in off Stastney.

But McDavid tied it 4-4 on the power play at 8:24, skating cross-ice into the left circle before sending a wrist shot in off of Lindgren’s left arm for his 31st goal of the season.

It was McDavid's first goal in eight games. Each team went 1-for-5 on the power play.

“It’s tough not to get the two points after not a great start. We didn’t get many shots in the first, but we kept battling,” Strome said. “Credit to our penalty kill, they stood strong for basically as long as they could.

“Obviously, when you give a team like that five power plays, eventually they’re going to capitalize. But I thought our penalty kill did good, our power play stepped up, just unfortunate that we couldn’t hold on for 40 more seconds.”

McMichael put Washington ahead 5-4 at 15:09, taking four whacks at the puck in the crease before putting it past a seated Jarry.

Zach Hyman scored with 32 seconds left in the game with the Oilers skating 6-on-5, deflecting a centering pass from McDavid in the crease to tie it 5-5 and force overtime.

“I thought, actually, we were good,” McDavid said. “I thought we were the better team, we were unlucky to be down at times. We just kind of stuck with it again. Not the prettiest of wins, but one that we needed.”

NOTES: Sandin had to be helped off the ice late in the first period after blocking a shot by Oilers defenseman Ty Emberson, and did not return. There was no update on his condition immediately after the game. ... Strome pushed his point streak to four games (six points; three goals, three assists). ... Bouchard's hat trick was the first by an Oilers defenseman since Marc-Andre Bergeron on Jan. 14, 2006. ... McDavid (393 goals) passed Mark Messier (392) for fifth place on the Oilers all-time goals list (Wayne Gretzky, 583; Jari Kurri, 474; Draisaitl, 424; Glenn Anderson, 417). ... Bouchard (55 points) became the fourth defenseman this season to reach 50 points (Cale Makar, 55; Zach Werenski, 55; and Lane Hutson, 53). He also became the third defenseman in Oilers history to record six points in a game, joining Paul Coffey (two goals, six assists on March 14, 1986, and two goals, four assists on March 29, 1985), and Kevin Lowe (one goal, five assists on Feb. 19, 1983). ... Draisaitl became the fourth player in Oilers history to record 600 assists, joining Gretzky (1,068), McDavid (777) and Messier (642).