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Pouliot scores twice, Oilers down Capitals 4-1 for fourth straight win

Oct 26, 2016 | 10:30 PM

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers aren’t used to this type of start to a season.

Benoit Pouliot had a pair of goals as the Oilers stretched their winning streak to four games with a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

“I think this start is huge for us,” Pouliot said after watching his team improve to 6-1-0.

“The last couple of years, we haven’t had good starts and it is tough to climb back. Now we are having a good start, and we just have to keep it going.”

Patrick Maroon and Milan Lucic also scored for the Oilers (6-1-0), who have won four out of five games at Rogers Place, their new downtown arena.

“It’s a big win for us,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who had two assists to put him at 11 points on the young season.

“Tonight was kind of a benchmark for us… Tonight was a big test. These guys are a giant in the NHL and we were able to play well and get a win, which is huge for our team.”

Alex Ovechkin replied for the Capitals (3-2-1), who lost their second game in a row in regulation time — something that did not happen all of last season.

“We just need a little more push from the whole group,” said Capitals coach Barry Trotz. “We’re going to have to get a little more greasy, get some of those greasy goals.

“Those key moments when we’re still in the game, we have to recognize those moments and we’re not recognizing those moments right now. We didn’t play well enough to win.”

The chances were fairly even in the scoreless first period, with the Capitals getting 11 shots on Oilers goalie Cam Talbot and Edmonton directing 10 shots on Washington starter Braden Holtby.

Edmonton was badly outplayed to start the second period, but ended up taking the game’s first lead just over seven minutes in as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins intercepted a pass, danced around defender Dmitry Orlov and put a long shot on net that Pouliot redirected past Holtby.

The Oilers made it 2-0 with 2:52 remaining in the second, as Pouliot scored his third of the season by banking a shot off of Holtby from behind the Washington net.

Things got a bit heated late in the period when Talbot had enough of T.J. Oshie hitting him with his stick in front on a power-play scramble and ended up unleashing a couple punches of his own that led to a roughing minor.

“More or less cross-checking my knee while I was down,” Talbot said. “I didn’t think that was right so I more or less gave him a shot back and it was even after that.”

Washington cut into the lead just nine seconds into the third as Ovechkin slid a puck under Talbot, scoring in his fourth consecutive game.

Edmonton shook that goal off quickly, though, as McDavid set up Jesse Puljujarvi for a glorious opportunity that Maroon finished off a rebound.

The Oilers got some insurance midway through the third as Lucic tipped an Andrej Sekera power-play point shot into the net.

Notes: It was the first of two meetings this season between the Capitals and Oilers. The next time the teams meet is on February 24th in Washington… Edmonton’s 5-1-0 record coming into the game was it’s best start since the 1985-1986 season… Edmonton has had the NHL’s first star of the week for the first two weeks of the season, as Talbot followed McDavid in winning the award on Monday.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press