Making his NHL debut in front of a host of family and friends, Caps’ goaltender Hunter Shepard stopped 18 of the 22 shots he faced to record his first NHL victory, a 6-4 triumph over the Devils at Prudential Center on Wednesday night. The Caps supported Shepard with their biggest offensive outburst of the season; they struck for three in the first and three in the third, which was enough to overcome a four-goal New Jersey onslaught in the middle period.
Dylan Strome struck for a pair of goals – his second two-goal game in the last three – to help support Shepard. Washington’s Wednesday night offensive output equaled its goal total from the first five games of the season combined.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” says Shepard. “I’m just excited to get out there and see my parents. It’s been a very emotional day.”
Entering Wednesday’s game, the Caps hadn’t scored the game’s first goal and they hadn’t played with a lead at any point in their previous five games. Ahead of the midpoint of the opening period, they checked both of those boxes.
Aliaksei Protas used his reach to make a strong play on the forecheck high in New Jersey ice, pushing the puck to Anthony Mantha in the high slot. Mantha curled to the right side, giving a hard look to late arriving linemate Beck Malenstyn before whipping a wrist shot past New Jersey netminder Akira Schmid at 6:37 of the first.
“Pro had a really good stick on that forecheck,” recounts Mantha. “He gave us kind of a quick look inside the blueline on a 2-on-1, me and Mally. I kind of turned open the blade to give it to Mally; I thought he was going to be open, but then I saw that the [defenseman] jumped that pass really quick. I just turned the wrist and fired it five-hole.”
In the back half of the opening period, the Caps took their first multi-goal lead of the season, striking for a pair of goals in a span of 96 seconds.
Caps’ captain Alex Ovechkin broke it out of Washington ice, sending Tom Wilson into the Devils’ end. Wilson returned the puck to Ovechkin, who then fed Dylan Strome going to the net. As he was losing his footing in front, Strome swatted it past Schmid for a 2-0 Caps lead at 15:52.
The third Washington goal of the period was similar to the first two, in that it originated from the Caps’ own end. Evgeny Kuznetsov patiently broke it out, hitting T.J. Oshie near the red line. From there, Oshie sent Sonny Milano into Devils’ territory with speed, and from the left circle, Milano issued a precise dart of a shot to the top right corner of the cage for a 3-0 Washington lead at 17:28.
By period’s end, the Caps had more goals than the Devils had shots on net (two). They also chased Schmid; he was replaced at the outset of the second by former Caps goaltender Vitek Vanecek.
As prosperous as the first period was for Washington, the second was every bit as disastrous. New Jersey erupted for four goals in a span of five and a half minutes, with all four sharing similar characteristics; all were scored on extended offensive zone shifts, all were scored from inside of 15 feet from the net, and all came with multiple Washington players on the ice for more than a minute.
A night after notching a hat trick in Montreal, Tyler Toffoli scored twice in the second on Wednesday against Washington; his two goals bookended tallies from Timo Meier and Nico Hischier.
Carbery called his timeout to address his players after Hischier’s tying tally, and he reinforced that message at the second intermission.
“I just was making it clear to the group what had changed from the first period to the second period,” says Carbery, “and why we were putting ourselves in really, really difficult spots defensively, and what was leading to the extended shifts that they were able to gain against us. That second period was extremely frustrating and we just we just completely changed what we were doing and why we were so successful in the first period.”
Late in the second, the Caps snuffed out New Jersey’s League-leading power play, and they finished the middle frame on the man advantage when Hischier was sent off for hooking Ovechkin in the waning seconds.
As badly as the second period went for Washington, being down just one puck going into the third was one of the better positions the Caps have found themselves in after 40 minutes of play thus far on the still young season.
In the opening seconds of the third, Strome scored his second goal of the game on that carryover power play, converting a nice feed from Kuznetsov to make it a 4-4 game just 18 seconds after the start of the final frame.
Just under two minutes later, Mantha set up Connor McMichael for the go-ahead goal, putting the Caps back on top at the 2:08 mark. Less than two minutes later, Milano appeared to have scored his second of the game, but a successful coach’s challenge from New Jersey took that one off the board and kept it a 5-4 game.
The Caps played a much smarter and more structured defensive game in the third, and the back half of the frame flew by with few interruptions for face-offs. With 1:35 left, Ovechkin alleviated some pressure with his second goal in as many nights, an empty-netter that sealed Shepard’s first win.
“Credit to our group for responding to the third period,” says Carbery. “The conversations that were going on in between the second and third period, there's a lot of situations where you can feel sorry for yourselves. You're down another goal, and all the things that happened to this group through the first five games.
“But they wouldn't be denied. They said, ‘No, we're not going to let this spiral and continue. We're going to come out, we're going to set the tone on the power play, and then finish the job.’”
Shepard was a happy benefactor of the Caps’ six-pack attack, and he briefly reflected on the winding road that put him in the win column in New Jersey on this Wednesday night in October.
“It’s pretty crazy,” says Shepard. “I think a year ago at this time – or a year and a half ago – I was probably the fifth goalie on the depth chart. And with the guys in front of you, it’s hard to even get time up in Hershey.
“It’s weird. A year and a half sounds fast, but when you’re not where you want to be it doesn’t seem fast. I’ve really enjoyed every level that I’ve played at. I wouldn’t trade my path to get to today for anything.”
