Devils Lose See-Saw Game to Capitals in OT | GAME STORY

It was a see-saw night for the New Jersey Devils who twice fought back for two two-goal deficits against the Washington Capitals to take the game to overtime. The Captials' Tom Wilson's second goal of the game was the overtime winner to end the game and sink the Devils 6-5.

"We didn't deserve to win that game," captain Nico Hischier said after the game, pointing to the Devils thoroughly inconsistent compete level. "Obviously, good that we fought back and got a point out of it, but on a competitive level that's not acceptable what we did tonight."

The early second-period excitement of Nico Hischier’s two goals in the opening 44 seconds of the second period to tie the game between the Capitals and Devils was burst when Andrew Mangiapane's first goal as a member of the Capitals beat Jacob Markstrom at 9:15 of the second to give the Capitals a 4-3 lead.

Hischier had erased a first-period 3-1 deficit with his two quick goals but the Capitals continued to press to re-establish their two-goal lead heading into the third. Hischier erased the first two-goal deficit, before the Caps came back to retake their two-goal lead, and again the Devils went to work to erase a second one to claw back to even the score.

Dawson Mercer capitalized off the rush in the third period to bring the score to 5-4 before Dougie Hamilton’s first goal of the season - a power play goal - tied the game at five at 12:28 of the third.

"Just not good enough," Hamilton said. "If you're giving up that many goals, it's hard to win many games. Can't do that and expect to win."

Hischier, with his early period heroics, made franchise history with the two fastest goals by a single player in Devils history, and his two goals in the opening 44 seconds are the two fastest goals to start a period.

Hischier ended the night with 3 points (2g-1a).

"Captain-like, isn’t it?,” Keefe said. “It was impressive. It was unfortunate that we don’t get rewarded more from that and we can’t take off and not look back from there, that was the disappointing part.”

The captain likely won’t put any stock into his record either, with his team leaving a point on the board to the Capitals on Saturday night.

In fact, Hischier shouldered blame for the Capitals overtime winning goal for his late change.

“We could have won that game,” he said. “I like the way we responded in some areas of the game. But at the end of the day, we didn’t deserve it. We didn’t deserve the win. For myself, tough change in overtime and it ended up in the back of the net.”

Here are some observations from the game:

• Despite not taking morning skate, held off the ice due to illness, Jesper Bratt was well enough to play against the Capitals. Bratt has been as durable as they come, having not missed a game the past two seasons, and has played in the opening seven games of this year.

• Nico Hischier did everything he possibly could to help will his team to a victory. Along with his two goals, after 40 minutes of play, Hischier's faceoff percentage was at a game-high 91.7 percent efficiency (11/12). He finished the game going 17-for-27.

• For the first time this season there was a tweak to the defensive pairings as the two youngest defenders were split up to play with more veteran presence. Seamus Casey and Simon Nemec had played together since the opening game, but on Saturday night the second and third defensive pairings had a little more young/veteran balance. Jonas Siegenthaler paired up with Casey while Nemec played with Johnathan Kovacevic.

Casey, who at a listed 180 lbs., may struggle more against a heavier team like Washington as he learns to navigate his way through the NHL, played just three shifts in the second period. Each passing day in the NHL for Casey is a bonus learning lesson so early in his professional career. Casey's first and second shifts came 7:13 apart.

"He’s struggled the last little bit,” Keefe said. “To me Case has done a really good job here, we’ve talked about it, how impressed I’ve been with him. To me it looks like the schedule is eating him up. Not just him, our whole team, we just played six games in ten days. That’s a kid that’s not only not played in the NHL before but he’s played a college hockey schedule, so this is all unheard of.”

• Dougie Hamilton shared his thoughts on scoring his first goal of the season:

“It was good,” Hamilton said. “Just trying to get in spots and execute. I think I’m still trying to get the feel back for a lot of stuff out there with that kind of stuff. It will come from me. To see it go in, it’s still possible. It’s been a long time for me so hopefully I can keep helping more.”

• As the Devils found themselves in a 3-1 hole after 20 minutes of play, New Jersey came out with new-look lines to start the middle period.

Paul Cotter was reunited with Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian on the fourth line, while Ondrej Palat joined Jack Hughes' wing with Jesper Bratt.

What was head coach Keefe looking for in the changes?

“Just something, just something," he said. "Unacceptable effort on home-ice. That’s two out of three games on home ice it’s been an unacceptable effort.”

• Defenseman Brenden Dillon played his 900th NHL game on Saturday night. Dillon, in his 14th NHL season, played six seasons with San Jose, four with Dallas, two years in Washington and another three in Winnipeg before joining New Jersey this off-season.

• Erik Haula's goal to open the scoring was technically the first shot on net recorded by New Jersey. In the second shift of the game, Dawson Mercer had an excellent chance after some sustained offensive zone pressure. His backhand, in-close, on Thompson, hit the crossbar, for the first real chance by New Jersey against Washington.

Thompson, who wasn't fully hugging his post as Haula's shot snuck through, went on to make nine straight saves to close out the opening 20 minutes of the game.

• Alex Ovechkin's goal against Markstrom was the 15th of his career at Prudential Center. He tied the NHL's mark from most goals as a visitor at Prudential Center with Boston's Patrice Bergeron.