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Ovechkin scores again as Caps down Oilers

Oct 15, 2013 - 4:38 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Alexander Ovechkin tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Verizon Center.

Nicklas Backstrom assisted on three goals, while Braden Holtby turned away 28- of-30 shots to help the Capitals end a three-game losing streak.

Boyd Gordon and Will Acton both lit the lamp in the defeat. Netminder Jason LaBarbera allowed four goals on 20 shots as the Oilers lost their third straight game.

"I thought everything was going fine until we brought a puck back into our zone, and that basically started a few dominos to fall," Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins said. "It goes back to the adage of every moment in the game is important. For three minutes we went backward, and it cost us the game."

Justin Schultz knocked down a Washington pass in the neutral zone and raced down the right side into the Capitals' zone. Schultz dished a pass to the middle where Gordon fired a shot off the left post and into the net past Holtby 9:48 into the first period.

Brooks Laich tied the game less than four minutes later. Edmonton failed to clear the zone, and Steve Oleksy held the puck in at the point and passed to Laich, who fired a shot under the right pad of LaBarbera for his first goal of the season.

Washington scored their next three goals on their next three shots.

The Caps took the lead close to 10 minutes into the second period. Joel Ward camped out at the side of the net and buried a feed that was sent across the goalmouth from Backstrom past LaBarbera for a power-play goal.

Ovechkin continued his frantic goal-scoring pace by scoring his sixth goal in as many games this season. Washington's captain took a pass from Marcus Johansson in the slot and rocketed a shot past a screened LaBarbera.

Troy Brouwer quickly scored 43 seconds later on a one-timer on the power play. The goal was set up by quick tic-tac-toe passing from Mikhail Grabovski and Backstrom to give the Caps a three-goal lead.

"We were kind of in a tough spot after last game, 1-4, losing ground a little bit," Brouwer said. "Guys are always a little bit upset when they're not producing because they feel like they're not helping their team out as much as they could, especially if you're expected to score."

A hard hit from Ovechkin on Mike Brown near the boards started a brawl with close to eight minutes left in the game. Brown and Luke Gazdic picked up roughing minors for Edmonton, while Mike Green and Kyle Alzner went to the box for Washington with Ovechkin gaining the extra two minutes for interference.

Acton scored his first career goal with less than two minutes remaining in the third. David Perron dug the puck away from the boards behind the net to get the puck to Jeff Petry. Acton took a pass from Petry and threw the puck into the net.

Game Notes

Backstrom had his third multi-point game of the season ... This was the first of two meetings this season between the two clubs ... Edmonton scratched forward Nail Yakupov for the second straight game ... Johansson picked up his 100th career point.