Thursday's game was the first after a rare four-day break between games, and Washington was seeking to avoid consecutive losses. The Caps dropped a 3-1 decision to the Rangers last Saturday, a setback that halted Washington's seven-game winning streak.
"It gives us that confidence back," says Caps forward T.J. Oshie of Thursday's win over New Jersey. "Obviously we had four days to think about the way that we lost to the Rangers there, and it's nice to get back into the win column; hopefully we can build momentum from this.
"And [Friday], I don't expect anything less from those guys over there, and probably a little bit more. So we're going to have a tough test [in the rematch]."
With Thursday's win, the Capitals are 15-3-1 in their last 19 games, a stretch that is greater than one third of the entire season. The Caps improved to 11-4-2 on home ice this season.
Washington is in the midst of a stretch of 11 games in 22 days in which they play only the three New York metropolitan area teams: four each against the Devils and the New York Rangers and three against the New York Islanders. One of the benefits of playing so many games against the same foes in a condensed stretch is that the pre-scouting is much simpler, and the familiarity - in addition to breeding contempt - can also be advantageous in going up against the same lines, goaltenders, centers, etc.
"Personally, just talking about face-offs, I think it's encouraging because you get the same guys over and over," says Caps center Nic Dowd. "And [Caps coach Peter Laviolette] is a big match-up guy too, so regardless of who we're matching up against, I tend to get the same centermen over and over, and guys traditionally don't change up their stuff too much. So, watch some film and gather some information.
"For me individually, repetition has been my biggest ally. My average face-offs [per game] is up from like five to six to seven from last year to 15 or 16 to 20 this year. That makes a big difference, and you get into a nice rhythm. But I think also just in general, you can back off the video a little bit - once you get in the middle of this stuff - because we are playing the same teams. But it's also important to understand weaknesses in our game that they're going to try and exploit, because they have the ability to watch film and look at things. But we're doing the same thing, so it has its benefits."
Washington has won each of the first five meetings with the Devils this season. Friday's game is the finale between the two teams in the District this season, and Washington's upcoming five-game road trip to the New York metro region includes two games against the Devils in Newark, which will conclude the season's series between the two teams.
