Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer and Michael McLeod scored two goals each to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 6-3 victory over the Capitals on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. New Jersey’s win spoiled the Washington debut of winger Max Pacioretty, who returned following nearly a year’s worth of rehab and recovery from a second torn Achilles’ tendon.
“Just too many mistakes and not enough push at the end,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought our third period would be a lot better than it was. We didn’t have much of a push and that’s disappointing. And you’ve got to give them credit; they’re a young, fast-skating team, and so you see in that third period that really took over.”
Finishing up their fifth set of back-to-back contests in less than four weeks, the Caps got off to an understandably sluggish start in Wednesday’s game. Idle since Saturday night, New Jersey jumped out to an early lead with a pair of Hischier goals in the front half of the first frame.
Hischier’s first goal came on the rebound of a Colin Miller shot from the high slot off the rush at 3:03 of the first period. Hischier netted his second of the night on a New Jersey power play, just ahead of the midpoint of the opening stanza. Parked at the top of the paint, Hischier tipped a Luke Hughes center point shot behind Caps’ goalie Hunter Shepard at 9:50.
For the first 17 minutes or so of the first, the Caps didn’t have much going on offensively. Washington managed to put four pucks on net in that span, three of them off the sticks of defensemen and all four from a distance of at least 60 feet away from the New Jersey net.
And that’s when the Caps benefited from a bit of a late holiday gift from Devils forward Nathan Bastian. Upon receiving a clean hit from a forechecking Beck Malentsyn, Bastian turned around and dropped Malenstyn over the back of the net, incurring a roughing minor and putting the Washington power play on the ice.
With less than 90 seconds left in the first and the Caps on the power play, Connor McMichael held and surveyed along the right half wall, and he ultimately called his own number, sniping a shot to the shelf on the short side to make it a 2-1 game at 18:38.
Washington drew some life and some momentum from that goal, and it put some offensive zone heat on the Devils during what little time remained in the first period.
In the earliest seconds of the middle frame, McMichael got loose on a breakaway with a chance to even the game. But Daws stopped the backhand bid, and the Devils once again seized the game’s momentum.
New Jersey was able to restore its two-goal cushion before the midpoint of the period, going up 3-1 when an offensive zone shift culminated with a Mercer goal on a one-timer from the slot at 8:08.
By the second television timeout of the second period, the Devils owned a lopsided 17-3 advantage in shot attempts for the frame. But the Caps went back to work and managed to seize enough monentum to get the game evened up.
Following a neutral zone regroup, Alex Ovechkin sent Evgeny Kuznetsov into New Jersey ice. Kuznetsov carried wide and low on the left side, sending a shot through Daws’ legs at 11:25 of the second to once again pull Washington to within a goal at 3-2.
Late in the period, Miller was boxed for tripping Tom Wilson in the neutral zone, putting the Caps on the power play for a second time. And once again, Washington scored a late goal with the extra man. From center point, John Carlson blasted a one-timer to the back of the net, his first goal since Oct. 19, ending the longest goal-scoring dry spell – 32 games – of his NHL career at 18:58 of the second, tying the game at 3-3.
“It’s been a long time, it seems,” says Carlson. “It’s tough when you’re going through something like that, but I’m happy to see one go in, and hopefully bring some more luck.”
It was at this critical juncture of the contest that things went awry for Washington. Seeking to again put some late heat on the Devils in their own end in the final minute of the period, the Caps got a bit overzealous and the Devils made them pay. Just 46 seconds after the Carlson goal, the Devils regained the lead on a McLeod backhander from the top of the paint off the rush, and with a nice setup from Alexander Holtz.
McLeod’s marker also marked the second time in as many nights that the Caps yielded a goal against within the final 16 seconds of a period.
“I didn’t like – and this happened [Tuesday] night as well, in the [Pittsburgh] game – I didn’t like that goal at the end of the period,” says Carbery. “It just can’t happen.”
Washington was unable to manufacture the equalizer on an early power play in the third, and the Devils salted the game away when Mercer notched his second of the night at 7:16 and McLeod followed suit at 15:35, completing New Jersey’s “triple double.”
Playing an NHL game for the first time since Jan. 19 of last year, Pacioretty logged 11:47 in his Washington debut. He took a minor penalty for tripping in the first period and his lone shot attempt of the night was blocked, but it’s a start.
“There’s a lot of emotions,” says Pacioretty. “I’ve played five games in almost two years, so yeah, a lot of emotions. But at the end of the day, it couldn’t get any worse than it did tonight for me. I’ve got to just get better from it.”
Wednesday’s game was the 12th straight game for which Washington had to travel, and they finished that grueling stretch with a respectable 5-4-3 mark. Wednesday’s loss is just the second regulation setback the Caps have suffered at home in their last dozen games here (6-2-4), and the first they’ve suffered since Nov. 24.
New Jersey’s win was its first in three tries against Washington this season, and its fourth victory in the last five games. With the two points they collected in the District on Wednesday, the Devils pulled even with the Caps in the Metropolitan Division standings.
“I just thought it was a solid win,” says New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff. “Knowing that they played last night and the schedule was probably going to catch up to them, I thought we stuck with it and played a great third period.”
