NHL Roundup: Connor McDavid beats Caps in OT, Backstrom’s 1000 point, and J.T. Miller scores 4 points
Anthony Scultore
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Today’s NHL Roundup for games played on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 recaps the only two matchups on the schedule.
In Edmonton, Connor McDavid put a damper on Nicklas Backstrom’s milestone evening with an OT winner that lifted the Oilers over the Capitals. And in Vancouver, J.T. Miller’s notched 4 points for the third time this season to help his Canucks down the Habs.
NHL Roundup: Oilers 4, Capitals 3 (OT)
Connor McDavid scored with 1:33 remaining in overtime and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the visiting Washington Capitals 4-3 on Wednesday night.
McDavid entered the offensive zone two-on-one with Leon Draisaitl, kept the puck and beat Ilya Samsonov with a wrist shot from the right circle.
“You know me, I’m trying to get him that puck, you always want to get ‘Leo’ the puck in those types of situations, and I thought Eller actually played it pretty well,” McDavid said. “We didn’t have a ton of speed, all three of us, so he kind of just stood in the middle and I just tried to take the shot that was there.”
Backstrom gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 2:17 of the second period. Anthony Mantha’s pass was deflected by Bouchard, and Backstrom knocked the loose puck home with a spinning backhand shot.
The Oilers tied it 1-1 when Kailer Yamamoto tipped in a pass from McDavid during a power play at 12:01 of the second period. The Capitals had killed off 19 straight penalties prior to that goal.
Ceci knocked in a rebound during a scramble in front of Samsonov to give the Oilers a 2-1 at 18:12 of the middle period.
Oshie tied the score 2-2 at 6:13 of the third period, taking a pass from Backstrom at the blue line and beating Koskinen with a wrist shot from the right circle on a power play.
With his assist on that tally, Backstrom reached 1,000 career NHL points (263 goals and 737 assists in 1,037 games).
“Obviously, it means a lot,” Backstrom said. “It’s a big milestone, so I’m very happy about it.”
Malone gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 10:31 of the third period when he scored his first NHL goal since Dec. 3, 2015. Zack Kassian got to the puck behind the goal line and fed Malone for the one-timer from the left of Samsonov.
Malone had not played in the NHL since April 2019 before he joined the Oilers on March 1.
With an extra attacker on for Washington in the final seconds of regulation, Oshie scored on a one-timer from the high slot off a pass from Carlson.
Oshie finished with three points and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, whose three-game winning streak ended. John Carlson notched two assists, and Samsonov stopped 36 shots.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin had his three-game goal streak snapped and remained tied with Jaromir Jagr (766 goals) for third place on the NHL all-time list.
“An amazing accomplishment to be able to reach that, and the game that he had backs it up and tells you why he got there,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “He’s such an impact player for us. He’s unbelievable, unbelievable to reach that milestone.”
Canucks 5, Canadiens 3
J.T. Miller had a goal and three assists to extend his point streak to 10 games as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the visiting Montreal Canadiens 5-3 on Wednesday night.
“It wasn’t a Picasso,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We didn’t play a great game, but we played hard, and we answered the bell.
Bo Horvat registered a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who won their third in a row and prevailed for the sixth time in seven games. Travis Hamonic, Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson also scored, and Thatcher Demko made 22 saves.
Miller tied his career high for points, logging four for the fifth time overall and the third time this season.
Artturi Lehkonen had two goals and an assist and Rem Pitlick produced a goal and two assists for Montreal, which lost for just the second time in its past nine games. Sam Montembeault stopped 28 of 32 shots.
Miller broke a 2-2 tie at 3:44 of the third period. He pokechecked the puck away from Montreal defenseman Jeff Petry at center ice and skated over the blue line on a breakaway. Instead of driving all the way to the net, Miller unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle into the far upper corner of the net.
Miller has seven goals and 14 assists during his scoring streak.
“We have one focus right now and that’s winning these games,” Miller said. “We should try to win every game at home, especially. It’s not out of the question. We’ll take it one game at a time, but we need these wins. We’re a desperate team. Every game from now on out should be easy to get up for.”
–Field Level Media contributed to this report