Much anticipation surrounded the Capitals’ opening night contest with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at Capital One Arena. With six new faces dotting the Washington lineup, everyone was eager to see how the new players would fare as the team took the ice to start off its 50th anniversary season.
New Jersey has a bevy of new faces in its lineup too, and their newest players were taking the ice for the fourth time this season. The Devils’ new blood made enough of an impact to earn a 5-3 win.
Paul Cotter – obtained from Vegas in June – had a pair of goals to give him four in as many games on the season. Stefan Noesen – now starting his second stint with the Devils after signing with them in July – dished out a trio of primary helpers to fuel the New Jersey attack. And veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom – acquired from Calgary over the summer – made just enough stops (29 of them) to improve his lifetime record against the Capitals to 2-8-3.
Noesen’s three-assist game was the first of his 370-game NHL career, and Erik Haula – who supplied the secondary assists on the same three goals – tied his single-game career high with those three helpers.
Cotter’s second goal was the game-winner, his second GWG in four games with New Jersey. Ha had one -game-winner in 138 games with the Golden Knights.
“I thought we did some good things, especially offensively,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought things looked a little bit better there from what we’re trying to do, being organized in the offensive zone, generating a little bit more o-zone time. So we generated enough, we just made some real costly mistakes.”
The first period was a high event frame; the Caps found themselves shorthanded twice before the game’s first television timeout. Washington killed off both of those New Jersey power plays without incident, and they were even able to spend some time threatening in the offensive zone on each of the shorthanded situations.
Just after the midpoint of the first, the Caps went on their first power play of the game. Ten seconds later, they owned a 1-0 lead, courtesy of a John Carlson center point drive at 10:48 of the first. Pierre-Luc Dubois picked up his first point as a Capital with a low-to-high primary feed on the play.
New Jersey pulled even less than three minutes later when Jesper Bratt set up Seamus Casey for a shot from the inside of the left circle, and the Devils’ defender fired it to the far side to square the score at 1-1 at 13:42.
Less than three minutes after the Casey goal, the Devils – ever dangerous on the rush – took the lead in that fashion. Cotter supplied the finish on a tic-tac-toe play that originated from a Washington turnover at the offensive blueline. Cotter’s goal came at 16:24, with Noesen and Haula picking up their first helpers of the evening on the play.
The first minute of the middle period was good for the home team, but the rest of it was a struggle. Dylan Strome scored from the top of the paint – Carlson and Alex Ovechkin assisting – just 32 seconds into the frame to square the score once again, this time at 2-2.
But New Jersey had its lead back before the four-minute mark. Noesen and Haula did the dirty work on the forecheck, and Tomas Tatar found enough space in front to get two point-blank whacks at it, and the second one beat Charlie Lindgren to lift the Devils to a 3-2 lead at 3:56.
Cotter struck again at 13:38 of the second, giving the Devils their first two-goal lead of the game. Again, the Caps weren’t careful enough around the blueline; this time the defensive blueline. Rasmus Sandin’s exit feed was picked off by Haula in neutral ice, and the latter sent Noesen into the Caps’ zone on a short-ice 2-on-1. Noesen fed Cotter for his second of the night and fourth of the young season, for a 4-2 New Jersey advantage.
“They were all in good spots [to score],” says Noesen. "It's pretty easy to make a simple pass like that."
Noesen and his linemates were exploiting the Hendrix Lapierre line – and linemates Sonny Milano and Aliaksei Protas. That trio – the only Washington forward group comprised of holdover players from last season – scuffled through the preseason and didn’t fare any better tonight. They were on the ice for three goals in a span of four shifts – their final two shifts of the first and their first two of the second period.
Each finished the night at minus-3 and Carbery limited their ice time in the back half of the contest.
“I was trying to help them,” he said. “The first three shifts, they step on the ice, and it’s in the back of their net.”
As they did in the second, the Caps struck early in the third. Connor McMichael made a boss play on the forecheck behind the New Jersey net, winning a puck battle and firing a sharp feed to the front for Tom Wilson, who whipped a shot past Markstrom from the slot to make it 4-3 at 1:35.
“I thought our line was good,” says Wilson. “We got a lot of forecheck pucks back. [Pierre-Luc Dubois] is so good with the puck, and fending guys off. Mikey was a force on that last shift and obviously made an amazing pass to me.”
Although they put some heat on the Devils late, the Caps could supply the finish on an equalizer in the third. They had a power play opportunity and some close calls during the 6-on-5 stretch with Lindgren pulled late, but instead Dawson Mercer lobbed a shot into the vacant cage with less than 10 seconds remaining to account for the 5-3 final.
Another opening night downer was the loss of Matt Roy – making his Caps’ debut – early in the second period. Roy did not return to the game, and Carbery pronounced him out with a lower body injury after the game.
