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Any thoughts that a 13-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament might cool down the Washington Capitals were quickly dismissed on Saturday when the Eastern Conference leaders blew out the host Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-3.

The win extended Washington’s point streak to seven games (4-0-3) and their Metropolitan Division lead to 12 points over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals have picked up a point in 19 of their past 20 games (13-1-6).

Next up is a Sunday afternoon contest with Connor McDavid and the visiting Edmonton Oilers in the second half of a back-to-back for both teams.

McDavid, who scored the overtime winner in Canada’s 3-2 victory over the United States in the 4 Nations final on Thursday night in Boston, had a little over 36 hours to enjoy his milestone moment before taking the ice Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.

Talk about your downer. McDavid failed to score a point and was minus-3 in just shy of 20 minutes of time on ice in a 6-3 loss to the Flyers.

Leon Draisaitl extended his point streak to seven games (six goals, five assists) with a goal and an assist, and John Klingberg also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers.

Edmonton fell out of a share of first place in the Pacific Division with the Vegas Golden Knights with the loss, their sixth in the past 11 games (5-5-1). Stuart Skinner finished with 26 saves in the game, the first of five straight on the road.

“I think what really cost us was the turnovers and trying to make plays when there’s not a play to be made, or not being able to get the puck in deep,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Four even-strength goals (allowed), and all of them were the direct result of a turnover. We’re not in good position to defend because usually on turnovers, everyone’s thinking (about) something else and they capitalized.”

“To a man, I think a lot of those plays and the execution, we can have a higher level,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “This is a big trip coming up, and the competition only gets higher from here. So for us, we gotta shake it off, and tomorrow’s another big test for us.”

Washington, which handed the Oilers a 3-2 loss on Jan. 21 in Edmonton in their first meeting, scored five times in the second period, including two goals in an eight-second span, in their rout of the Penguins. Fifteen of the team’s 18 skaters scored at least one point. Surprisingly, Alex Ovechkin, who has 879 career goals and needs 16 more to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894, wasn’t one of them.

Jakob Chychrun scored twice in a five-goal second period that saw the Capitals erupt for three goals over a 3:47 span.

“We were getting a lot of looks tonight, so I knew I’d be able to get a couple,” said Chychrun, who ranks third among NHL defensemen with 16 goals. “It was a great game by the boys. It was a lot of fun playing out there tonight, and it was nice to be back with them.”

It marked the second time this season that Washington scored eight goals in a game. The Capitals lead the Eastern Conference with 204 goals scored, two fewer than league-leading Winnipeg.

–Field Level Media