The Caps not only scored five goals at 5-on-5 in the win over Colorado, they scored them in three different ways. They came virtually two hundred feet to score two of them off the rush, with one of those two coming directly from strong defending in their own end. They scored two others to culminate lengthy shifts in the offensive zone, and another was scored opportunistically, by capitalizing on a Colorado turnover in Avalanche ice and putting it in the back of the net seconds later.
"[Nick Jensen'] goal was a really good play by [Tom Wilson]," says Caps center Nic Dowd. "That whole line did a really good job, got the puck out, went all the way down and scored, just from being on the right side of the puck and doing things right defensively. You've got to have the ability to score from all different sides of the puck, and on the power play and special teams. I think all four lines did that, and did a good job."
Washington and New Jersey went at it eight times in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020-21 season, with the Caps coming out on top in all eight games. Most of those contests were close ones, and the Devils often gave the Caps all they could handle with their speed.
"They're still a young, fast team," says Laviolette of the Devils. "Young was the key word, but also a year older. And so like anything, with the year's experience they're going to be more difficult to handle for not just us, but for all teams.
"This goes back to being a division game. It's an important game. And there were games last year with their personnel where they might have had the edge on us. We maybe got them on the scoreboard, but they had the edge in what was going on on the ice. There were some games where we played well too, but there were some games where I thought that they had the better of us.
"We're going to have to be ready for a good one. It's a division game; you should never expect anything but a tough game."
In the early going this season, the Caps seem better suited to handle teams like New Jersey, that feature a lot of speed.
"It's obviously early, but I think we've always been a fairly versatile team that can adapt to the game that's being played," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "I think we have some young legs in the lineup now. I think [defenseman Marty [Fehervary] skates well, so he can play on tight gaps and match opponents' speed. I think there are little things maybe that we've changed that have helped that out, but it's early and you want to start the year well. You want to get off on the right foot, and we've just got to keep it going."
