POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 2, Devils 1 (OT)

Bounce Back - In the wake of an 8-4 loss to the Islanders in New York on Thursday, Caps coach Peter Laviolette remarked: "I don't think we played hard enough to win a hockey game tonight. I should say that the team that played harder won tonight, so you talk about that and try to get better from there."

A night later in New Jersey, the Caps had their first chance to try to get better and they did. But it took nearly 65 minutes of being better before they were able to slip past the Devils by a 2-1 margin in overtime.
Dmitry Orlov's goal with 20.8 seconds left in overtime ensured that the Caps would get a positive result from Friday night's game in New Jersey, halting a rare two-game losing streak for Washington, just the second time all season it has gone as many as two games without collecting a point. But even before Orlov's goal, the difference was noteworthy.
The Caps were much better and more assertive at both bluelines; they made good puck decisions at the offensive line and had good sticks and closed quickly at their own line. They were tighter in the neutral zone, and they spent plenty of time in the New Jersey end of the ice. Orlov's game-winning goal came on the Caps' 40th shot of the evening, the third time in 37 games they've reached that plateau this season, and the first time since Feb. 21.
It was a marked improvement from the night before on Long Island.
"I definitely saw it in the [offensive] zone," says Caps defenseman Nick Jensen, "I thought our forwards did a great job of just being all over the puck, making it hard on all of their guys. They turned a lot of pucks over, and I think that was all attributed to our forwards forechecking them and putting pressure on them. I think we spent a lot of time in the [offensive] zone, which is great for our team."
Prior to Orlov's game-winner, the Caps' only goal of the game in regulation came on a sequence similar to what Jensen described. New Jersey iced the puck, and won the ensuing defensive zone face-off. But Caps winger T.J. Oshie forced a turnover along the wall in the Devils' zone, and Lars Eller was there to pick up the loose change. He put a neat lateral feed to John Carlson at center point, and - with Oshie and Alex Ovechkin providing the traffic in front - Carlson's shot found its way past New Jersey netminder Mackenzie Blackwood, the only one of the first 39 Washington shots to find twine before Orlov's game-winner.
Washington generated 61 shot attempts in Friday's game, and although it spent only 3:23 of the game on the power play and did not score with the extra man, it mustered seven shots on net and some good looks in that situation.
All around, it was the course correction the Caps were seeking.
"I really like the fact that we bounced back, and it was a back-to-back situation against a team that was fresh," says Laviolette. "I thought we did a good job on the compete level. It was real strong defensively and it was a much quieter game, not as much noise coming back our way. It was a good response."
Washington entered Friday's game saddled with consecutive losses for the first time since Feb. 14.
"I think it was a good team effort," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "We wanted to have a bounce back game. It wasn't pretty; there wasn't a whole lot out there. But the biggest thing was just getting the two points and we found a way to do it. That's all that matters right now."
Jersey Boy - Although he was born in Massachusetts, Carlson grew up in the greater New Jersey area, and he has always seemed to relish playing here and against the Devils. His 36 career points (seven goals, 29 assists) against New Jersey are his highest total against any single opponent over the course of his career.
In 21 career games at Prudential Center, Carlson has totaled three goals and 10 assists for 13 points, and he is a combined plus-20 in those games (he is plus-33 lifetime against the Devils). Two of Carlson's goals at The Rock were game-winners, one of them the only goal in a 1-0 Washington win in overtime on March 25, 2016, the first overtime game-winner of Carlson's career.
Carlson's goal on Friday was his 10th of the season, marking the fourth straight campaign - and the sixth of his career - in which he has reached the double-digit level in goals. He is one of just four defensemen in franchise history to have six double-digit goal seasons; he joins Sergei Gonchar and Kevin Hatcher (seven each) and Scott Stevens (six) with that distinction.
V Is For Victory - Caps goaltender Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 of 23 shots on Friday to record his 15th victory of the season (15-6-3). He leads all NHL rookies in wins and is fifth in the league overall.
Friday's game marks the seventh time this season that Vanecek has allowed one or zero goals in a start. Washington has only suffered three losing streaks of two games or more this season, and only two of those slides were regulation losing streaks. In each of the three instances, it was Vanecek that stopped the slide with a win, and in two of the three instances he stopped the slide by allowing a single goal.
In a game as tight as Friday's every save has magnitude. Vanecek made a couple of dandies on Andreas Johnsson and Janne Kuokkanen late in the first, another on a tipped point drive from Dmitry Kulikov midway through the third, and a trio of game-savers from in tight in overtime, including a dazzling stop on Jack Hughes just over three minutes into the extra session.
"He is kind of like the Secret Service back there," quips Jensen of Vanecek. "He doesn't get a lot of attention, but that's a bit part of why we win those overtime games, because he is making saves like that."
By The Numbers -Orlov led Washington with 23:18 in ice time … Orlov and Ovechkin each had six shots and 11 shot attempts to lead the Caps … Garnet Hathaway led the Caps with five hits … Carlson led the Caps with four blocked shots … Nic Dowd won nine of 14 draws (64 percent), Evgeny Kuznetsov won five of eight (63 percent) and Eller won 11 of 18 (61 percent).