WASHINGTON, D.C. - A four-goal third period propelled the Washington Capitals to a 6-2 win over the Devils Tuesday night. Despite having 39 shots on goal, New Jersey only got past Charlie Lindgren twice with Alexander Holtz's first period goal, and Erik Haula's third period tally.
“We didn’t finish,” Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said post-game. “Our second power play I thought had a lot of really good looks but we just didn’t put the puck in the back of the net. You look at missed opportunities, we had a couple rush plays, 2-on-1s, that we didn’t generate opportunities. We have to give them the credit, when we gave an opportunity they put it away. We didn’t put away our opportunities.”
The Capitals took charge early, scoring 39 seconds in when Connor McMichael cleaned up a loose puck right in front of the net. As the period continued on, the Devils started to pick up momentum and were outshooting the Capitals 7-2 after five minutes of play. New Jersey got on the board late in the first period when Alexander Holtz redirected in a great pass from Simon Nemec to tie the game 1-1.
McMichael would help the home team take back the lead early in the second period when he stole the puck, drove to net, and slipped it past a sprawled Nico Daws. The goal made it a 2-1 game with just under 16 minutes to play in the middle frame.
Five minutes into the third period, Dylan Strome scored to make it 3-1 for the Capitals. Four and a half minutes later, Alexander Ovechkin scored off the faceoff to give the home team a 4-1 lead in the third period. Mike Sgarbossa continued the Capitals' scoring in the final eight minutes of the third period when his goal made it 5-1.
Erik Haula cut the Capitals lead to three when he went down the middle and scored, making it 5-2. Tyler Toffoli and Brendan Smith picked up assists on the goal.
Alexander Ovechkin's second goal of the night, a power play goal, gave the Capitals a 6-2 lead in the final minute of play.
“Over two periods I thought we were the better team, but the third I thought we got too frustrated,” Captain Nico Hischier explained. “Weren’t sharp enough in front of our own net and left tap-ins all over the ice. It’s just not good enough.”
“Didn’t play well enough defensively,” Ruff shared. “Starting with the first goal against, and then around the front of the net. We’ve worked hard to trying to stay around the front of the net, making sure that we don’t give up the inside chances, and a couple of the goals were just lack of detail by our group.”
“I think we got out-battled in front of the net,” Jonas Siegenthaler shared post-game. “We have to be harder in front of the net, and don’t give them second chances around the net. I think we can do a better job there.”
