The New Jersey Devils defeated the Washington Capitals 6-3 on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. With multi-goal performances from Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer, and Michael McLeod, the Devils grabbed their first win over Washington this season. They improved to 20-14-2 and jumped past Washington in the Metropolitan Division standings. The Capitals fell to 18-12-6.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils opened the scoring early with a goal from Captain Nico Hischier, who buried a rebound from Colin Miller’s shot at 3:03. Goaltender Nico Daws also recorded his first career NHL point on the play. Shortly after, at 9:50, the Devils cashed in on the power play to extend the lead to 2-0. Hischier deflected in a shot from Luke Hughes for his second goal of the period. Jack Hughes tallied an assist as well. The Devils’ penalty kill continued to struggle, as they surrendered a power-play goal at 18:38. Connor McMichael scored from Rasmus Sandin and Anthony Mantha to cut the lead in half.
Period Two
The Devils regained momentum at 8:08 when Dawson Mercer scored in his 200th career NHL game. Erik Haula and Hischier collected assists on the goal. However, the momentum was short-lived, as Evgeny Kuznetsov brought Washington back within one at 11:25. Alex Ovechkin and Martin Fehervary assisted on the goal.
Washington knotted things up with another late power-play goal, this time John Carlson from Kuznetsov and Ovechkin at 18:58. Less than a minute later, thanks to a strong effort on the rush, McLeod restored the Devils’ lead with a spinning backhand shot at 19:44 to beat goaltender, Hunter Shepard. Alexander Holtz added an assist on the play.
Third Period
The Devils regained a two-goal lead at 7:16, with Mercer’s second of the game coming just after a powerplay. Haula assisted with a slick pass to find Mercer in the slot. Nathan Bastian also added his name to the scoresheet with a secondary assist. The Devils put the game away at 15:35 with McLeod’s second goal of the night, a loose puck buried from the net front. Holtz and Curtis Lazar had the assists.
The Devils outshot Washington 28-26 and moved back into a wildcard position in the playoff standings.
Takeaways
Despite injuries holding Timo Meier and Ondrej Palat out of the lineup, the Devils put together a solid performance against a Capitals team that they routinely struggle to beat. A few defensive lapses led to good scoring chances, but Daws made some big saves to bail the Devils out at crucial points of play. While the penalty kill struggled, they were able to find enough offense to earn two points in their first game of the new year.
Next Up
The Devils welcome Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks into the Prudential Center on January 5th in the final meeting of the season between the two teams. The Devils won the first match 4-2.
The Blackhawks are dealing with a lot of injuries and have a record of 2-7-1 in their last ten games, putting them last in the Central Division. They will also be in the second half of a back-to-back set, having faced the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.
ITR 35: Round One – Inside The Rink
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