Wow, what a game. The Edmonton Oilers won an overtime thriller, defeating the Washington Capitals 6-5 on Saturday night (Jan. 24), improving their record to 26-19-8. This game had everything you’d want. There were many goals, a few breakaways, and plenty of scoring chances, resulting in quality entertainment. The fans in attendance got their money’s worth.
This was an exciting, high-event, back-and-forth affair, which saw six lead changes. Aliaksei Protas, Justin Sourdif, Anthony Beauvillier, Dylan Strome, and Connor McMichael scored for Washington. Meanwhile, Evan Bouchard (3), Connor McDavid (2), and Zach Hyman lit the lamp for Edmonton. Here are five takeaways from this overtime thriller.
Bouchard’s Best Career Game
Bouchard is a polarizing player in Oil Country. He has been heavily criticized, and while some of it is deserved, it’s way overblown and unnecessary. He’s an elite defenceman, and that was proven in this one. In his 400th career game, he scored his first career hat trick, and the first by an Oilers’ defenceman since Marc-Andre Bergeron in January 2006. He also had a career-high six points, the first Oilers’ blueliner with six points in a game since Paul Coffey’s eight-point performance against the Detroit Red Wings in 1986.
Related: Oilers Pundits and Fans Need to Ease Up on Evan Bouchard
Points aside, Bouchard made exceptional plays all game. His vision is outstanding, and he found his teammates with perfect passes. He found Hyman alone in front, creating a high-danger chance that was denied. He made the same pass in overtime to find McDavid all alone, but was stopped. He also made a fantastic keep-in at the blue line, diving to keep the play alive, with Edmonton trailing by one goal in the final minutes. They eventually found the equalizer to tie it.
Bouchard’s athleticism was also evident on McDavid’s overtime winner. As he was being tripped, he found McDavid for a breakaway feed, and the captain made no mistake.
The guy on the Jumbotron just became the first Oiler d-man with six points in a game since Paul Coffey had EIGHT vs Detroit in 1986. pic.twitter.com/qeqv5R8q16
— Jack Michaels (@EdmontonJack) January 25, 2026
The 26-year-old finished the game with three goals, six points, eight shots, one hit, and two blocks with a plus-5 rating in 29:25 of ice time. This was a legendary performance that this franchise hasn’t seen from a defenceman in quite some time. He was exceptional.
Ingram Got Pulled
This was the biggest negative takeaway from this game. Connor Ingram got pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots for a .750 save percentage (SV%), replaced by Tristan Jarry with under five minutes remaining in the second period.
The goalie change made sense given the circumstances. Ingram wasn’t good enough, and he should’ve saved the second and third goals. The second goal was a wrister that beat him clean, and the third goal was a weak shot that got deflected off a defenceman’s leg. The team was down by one and needed a boost.
However, this goalie pull demonstrated that head coach Kris Knoblauch has a double standard. In the previous game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jarry allowed six goals on 23 shots, including three in 37 seconds within the first three minutes. Yet somehow, Jarry wasn’t pulled. The Oilers required a spark, and Jarry clearly didn’t have it, but he remained in the game.
That was a questionable decision by the bench boss, but at least the right decision was made in this one. This was back-to-back underwhelming starts by the Oilers’ goaltenders.
Capitals Had Quick Responses
Whenever the Oilers scored, the Capitals had quick responses. The Oilers opened the scoring with 48 seconds remaining in the first period, but Washington quickly tied the game 22 seconds later, heading into the intermission.
The home team took the lead 4:13 into the middle frame, but Washington responded at the 6:50 mark. Then, Edmonton tied the game at three 4:30 into the third period, before the visitors regained the lead just 2:10 later. This was a back-and-forth game, and no lead was safe.
The Kids Were Solid
While the kids didn’t get on the scoresheet, Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie had solid games, despite Savoie being minus-2 and Howard being minus-1. Plus/minus is a team statistic, so it shouldn’t be used to determine their individual play.
Howard had a breakaway in the first period, but was denied. He’s looking more comfortable and has gotten some quality chances lately. Hopefully, he will start scoring on his opportunities. He finished with one shot in 9:12 of ice time. That box score doesn’t do him justice because he was noticeable.
Savoie continues to be an important penalty killer, and his work ethic is finally being rewarded. He scored in his previous two games, and he had two shots in this one, with some good looks in 12:39 of ice time.
He made a fantastic backcheck in the third period to briefly disrupt a breakaway. Jack Roslovic turned the puck over at the offensive blue line, resulting in a breakaway the other way. But Savoie got on his horse to catch the Washington forward and got his stick in the way just enough to spoil that opportunity. Those plays often go unnoticed, but if that goes in, the Oilers likely don’t come back to win. That was a game-saving backcheck by the 22-year-old, making up for his teammates’ miscue.
Oilers Can Salvage the Homestand
The Oilers were 32 seconds away from falling to 1-3-0 on their current eight-game homestand, which would’ve been unacceptable. They eventually found the equalizer, then won in overtime, bringing their record to 2-2-0.
That’s an important swing, and if they didn’t manage to score late, we would be talking about a disastrous homestand. Fortunately, we are talking about a win and how they can salvage the remaining games. Hopefully, they can build off this momentum and finish the homestand strong. Can they finally go on a run?
The Oilers continue their homestand on Monday, Jan. 26, against the Anaheim Ducks. Keep following The Hockey Writers for all your NHL content throughout the season.
