Caps Close Out Season's Series with Devils
Caps' road trip continues with a Sunday matinee in Newark
When the Caps faced the New Jersey Devils for the first time this season back on Feb. 21 in Washington, the Devils were the only team the Caps hadn't played yet at that time. On Sunday afternoon in New Jersey, the Devils will become the first team that Washington is finished playing against for the 2020-21 season.
Sunday afternoon's match at Prudential Center is the eighth and final meeting between the two teams, all of them in a span of 43 days. With their 2-1 overtime win over the Devils here on Friday night, the Caps are seeking a clean sweep of New Jersey on the season. Washington has won all seven games between the two clubs, with the Devils claiming a pair of points by pushing two of those seven games into overtime before falling.
Friday's win over the Devils was a bounce back performance for the Caps, who took an 8-4 thumping from the Islanders on Thursday night. Off nights have been rare for the Caps this season, and Thursday's game also saddled the Caps with consecutive losses for the first time in more than six weeks. But Washington tightened up in the neutral and defensive zones against the Devils and generated a great deal of offensive-zone time and scoring opportunities. The Caps also largely neutralized the Devils' rush game, which had given Washington some trouble in portions of previous meetings this season.
"Teams are so good off the rush these days that you have to be tight with your details," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "[Thursday] night was a weird game, and I think our focus tonight was just to get back to what we're good at, get back to our system, get back to our structure and let that carry us through the game.
"For the most part, we were pretty good. We didn't give them a lot. Against a young, skilled team off the rush, we were able to shut them down and transition pucks the other way. It was a bit of a back-and-forth game, but we were happy with the structure from our end."
Both of the Caps goals came from its blueline. John Carlson netted his 10th of the season in the second period and Dmitry Orlov won it for Washington in overtime with his fifth. Carlson has had six seasons with double-digit goal totals now, one of only four defensemen in franchise history to do so. Orlov's total of five is one more than he had last season and the most he has had since netting 10 in the Cup-winning campaign of 2017-18.
In addition to supplying the offense, the Caps defense was staunch and solid, limiting the Devils to 23 shots on net while forcing 14 misses and blocking 14 shots as well.
"I thought the defenseman played really well tonight, but just steady," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette, "and they did the right things, and they made simple plays, and they supported each other. They moved pucks quickly. I thought they were really good in the offensive zone, at moving pucks and jumping into holes, and so I thought that the [defense] bounced back as well. I was pretty pleased with the way we played tonight. Guys can get some rest, and I know we've got a good one coming up [on Sunday]."
Washington defensemen made good decisions with the puck at the offensive line, finding lanes and means of getting pucks lower without getting them blocked or turning them over, even if that meant missing the net intentionally. Caps blueliners generated 13 shots on net and two dozen shot attempts, only four of which were blocked. For comparison's sake, the Devils' defensemen combined for 13 shot attempts, with four on net and five blocked.
"I think we were around their net a lot," says Washington winger Carl Hagelin. "If we just get some sticks on pucks that our [defensemen] delivered to the net, we would have had a few more goals, around the bluelines we did a way better job.
"Against the Islanders, we didn't get the puck deep as many times as we wanted to. There were a lot of times where we kind of dumped it into their [defense], and then they went the other way and it's hard to play that way, it doesn't matter who you play against. Today we went back to basics; we put the puck deep and we did a good job getting on their [defense] every time."
Sunday's matinee match gives the Caps a chance to get even on the trip before they move back to Long Island for Tuesday's finale of this five-game excursion to the New York metro area. The Caps are aiming to record eight wins against the same foe in the same regular season for the first time in franchise history. If they are successful, it will mark the 13th time in the NHL's expansion era (since 1967-68) that one team has defeated the same opponent in a season, and the first team to do so since Montreal won eight games over Boston in 2007-08.
