NHL Game Recap: Tatar And The Devils Hold Off Capitals For 3-2 Win

Tomas Tatar, who had both a goal and an assist, and the Devils held off the Washington Capitals for their fourth win in five games at Capital One Arena on Saturday, November 23rd. Brenden Dillon and Dougie Hamilton also scored for New Jersey to help them defeat the Capitals 3-2. This had been Jake Allen’s 200th NHL career win, and he made 23 saves for the Devils. Matt Roy and Connor McMichael each scored for Washington, who have lost consecutive games for the first time this season. The Devils head home to Prudential Center on Monday, November 25th, to take on the Nashville Predators and will hopefully extend their two-game win streak.

New Jersey Devils Lineup:

Palat – Hughes – Bratt

Meier – Hischier – Noesen

Foote – Haula – Mercer

Cotter – Dowling – Tatar

Dillon – Hamilton

Siegenthaler – Kovacevic

Hughes – Pesce

Allen

Markstrom

Washington Capitals Lineup:

Protas – Strome – Miroshnichenko

McMichael – Dubois – Wilson

Lapierre – Eller – Mangiapane

Duhaime – Dowd – Raddysh

Chychrun – Carlson

Sandin – Roy

Fehervary – van Riemsdyk

Lindgren

Thompson

Matt Roy scored late in the opening period with 6:09 on the clock to put the Capitals in the lead 1-0 when he struck from the right point on a high wrist shot. Hendrix Lapierre had gotten the puck after he got ahold of it at the left boards, carried it out, and sent it to Roy, who passed it to Rasmus Sandin… Sandin returned it to Roy, who fired the puck past Jake Allen. Not too long after Washington’s goal, Tomas Tatar tied it to 1-1 on the power play at 3:29 of the first period. After receiving a backdoor pass from Luke Hughes, who took a pass from Timo Meier, Erik Haula’s shot trickled past Charlie Lindgren, but it came to a stop on the goal line before Tatar knocked it in for his third goal of the season.

At 12:52 of the second period, Brenden Dillon made it a 2-1 lead for New Jersey, giving them their first lead of the night when he scored on a wrist shot at the left point. It appeared that his shot deflected off John Carlson’s stick. This had been Brenden Dillon’s first goal as a Devil since signing as a free agent on July 1st. Dougie Hamilton increased the Devils’ lead to 3-1 on the power play with 4:19 remaining in the middle frame right off the face-off. Nico Hischier won a face-off to Jesper Bratt, who fed Hamilton, and he struck from the high slot on a wrister that he fired past Charlie Lindgren.

Connor McMichael pulled the Washington Capitals within 3-2 at 15:06 of the third when he received a backdoor pass from John Carlson on the power play at the bottom of the left circle, and he scored at the right post for his 13th goal of the season. During a 6-on-5 play, Jake Allen made a save on McMichael’s slap shot with 1:25 left in regulation, and both Dawson Mercer and Nico Hischier had crucial blocks in the final minute.

Tomas Tatar on the final minute of the game, growth, and his goal: “A lot of great blocks by Mercer and Nico, and also a great save by Jake. It was a critical moment in the last minute, but we stood up and held on strong – I feel like we are more mature. Since the time I was here, it was a young team, but now these guys are slowly getting in the prime if they’re not already in the prime. So, there’s a lot of maturity in each game… you play, you’re getting experience, and you can see it on this team right now,” – “It was beautiful. I honestly stopped playing for a second. It was a great play by Luke and a good shot by Erik. I wasn’t really sure how he saved it, but I saw it trickling in, and then it stopped. I was just sprinting there to get the cookie. It was fortunate.”

Jake Allen on what he makes about the way the guys played in front of him, the importance of closing these games out in regulation, and taking the two points: “I thought for the first two periods, they were really awesome. Obviously, we knew Washington was going to have a push in the third, being down a couple, and we found a way to get through it. Especially in the last 2, 2.5 minutes – two big blocks there from the guys. It’s not going to be pretty all the time, you got to find ways to win. It’s hard to put a complete 60 together in this league against really good teams and teams that we’re chasing in the standings,” – “It might not mean a lot right now, but come April late March, those points are huge, and meaningful. I’ve been in a situation in my career where I’ve been out of the playoffs by one point. Every point matters… Even if you find a way to get it to overtime and you lose, you still gain a little bit of ground.”

Notes:

– The Devils are 12-0-0 when leading after two periods.

– In his past five games, Jesper Bratt has recorded nine points (five goals, four assists).

– Jake Allen is 200-170-43 in 437 NHL games.

– The Washington Capitals entered the game 5-0-0 following a loss.

– Charlie Lindgren made a total of 30 saves for Washington.

– Matt Roy’s goal was his first as a Capital. He signed as a free agent on July 1st and had missed 10 games due to a lower-body injury in the first month of the season.