EDMONTON, AB – Let's call it a wash.
Despite more than doubling the Washington Capitals 32-14 in shots, goaltender Logan Thompson was solid for the NHL leaders, making 30 saves to hand the Edmonton Oilers their second straight loss in a 3-2 defeat on Tuesday night at Rogers Place.
Forward Leon Draisaitl scored his League-best 34th goal during the first period and added an assist on veteran Corey Perry's eighth goal of the campaign that made it 3-2 early in the final frame, but the Capitals were clinical on their opportunities, striking once in each period with goals from centre Tom Wilson, defenceman Matt Roy and centre Pierre-Luc Dubois to push the visitors' point streak to 11 games (8-0-3).
"I thought we played pretty solid defensively, maybe a couple of line rushes against that we could've shored up," Perry said. "But for the most part, you keep them to under 15 shots – they're a top team in the league. When you do that, you normally come away with two points. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one at the end and we'll move on to the next one."
Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 11 saves on 14 shots for the Oilers, while winger Vasily Podkolzin and defenceman Darnell Nurse recorded assists.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid missed the first game of his three-game suspension for cross-checking Canucks forward Conor Garland on Saturday in a 4-3 defeat to Vancouver.
"We're a pretty good team in here, and we've got a lot of good players," Perry said. "He'd been out earlier in the year and we took care of business, and you can't fill his spot, but you can adapt. I think guys adapted."
Edmonton now looks ahead to rematching the Canucks on Thursday night at Rogers Place.