Devils Win It for the Moms, Beat the Capitals 3-2 | GAME STORY

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Despite plenty of pressure from the Capitals, the Devils stayed strong and snuck out a 3-2 win in Washington D.C. New Jersey picked up its second win of the year against this Metropolitan Division opponent and improved to 14-7-2. Tomas Tatar, Brenden Dillon, and Dougie Hamilton had New Jersey's goals and Jake Allen stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced to record his 200th NHL win.

“First Jake Allen saves the game for us with a huge save,” Keefe said post-game. “Then Mercer and Hischier, great blocked shots, sacrificing to make sure we get the points. That’s the kind of efforts you need to close out games. Didn’t love a lot about our game quite honestly, but I thought we played smart enough defensively to limit a lot of what their strengths are offensively and because of that, we only needed three (goals).”

With 6 minutes left in the first period - Matt Roy scored to give the home team a 1-0 lead. The shot hit off of Nolan Foote’s glove which redirected the shot past Allen. There was a lot of traffic in front of the net as the Capitals continued to pressure.

Three minutes later, the Devils responded with a power play goal. Luke Hughes passed to Erik Haula on the doorstep and Haula got the puck past Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren. Tomas Tatar pounced on the puck and pushed it over the goal line to tie the game, 1-1.

“It was beautiful,” Tatar said of Hughes’ pass. “I stopped playing for a second, it was a great play by Hughes and good shot by Haula. I wasn’t sure how (Lindgren) saved that but I still saw it trickle in and then it stopped so I was just sprinting there to get the (goal).”

Seven minutes into the second period, Dillon scored his first goal as a Devil to give New Jersey a 2-1 lead. Paul Cotter was net front challenging Lindgren and putting pressure on the Capitals netminder. Dillon’s shot hit John Carlson’s stick, which redirected the shot slightly, and helped the Devils blue liner give New Jersey a 2-1 lead.

“Don’t care how it goes in,” Dillon smiled. “At the end of the day it’s nice to contribute. I don’t often but it’s nice to be able (to). We’ve been trying to get pucks to the net, (the Capitals) do a great job blocking shots, we talked about that before the game. So just trying to find a lane, get it there, and Cotter did a great job net front.”

Throughout the second period there were waves of pressure by the Capitals; however, the Devils remained structured and weathered the storm. Tensions rose nine minutes into the middle frame when Johnathan Kovacevic and Brandon Duhaime dropped the gloves. Duhaime also fought Stefan Noesen in New Jersey’s most recent game against Washington on Oct. 19.

Jesper Bratt drew a penalty late in the second period for New Jersey’s third power play of the game. Off a clean faceoff win at the start of a power play, Dougie Hamilton’s shot went high past Lindgren to give the Devils a 3-1 lead. The power play tally was New Jersey’s second power play goal against the fourth best penalty kill in the league.

In the first four minutes of the third period, the Capitals went on only their second power play of the game. Washington held the zone for over a minute to start the man-advantage, keeping New Jersey from getting fresh penalty killers. After Johnathan Kovacevic was knocked down, John Carlson saw Connor McMichael open and quickly passed it. McMichael tapped in the pass, which brought the game within 1.

Following the Capitals power play goal that cut the Devils lead to 3-2, Washington increased their pressure. In the final two minutes of regulation, Washington pulled their goalie and increased the challenge. Allen went post to post and came up big with a glove save to stop McMichael. Blocked shots and a strong effort from the Devils helped them hang on, to get the win.

“It was a lot of great blocks by Mercer and Hischier,” Tatar said of the Devils effort late in the game. “Also a great save by Allen. It was a critical moment in the last minute but we stood up and held it strong.”

“We knew Washington was going to have a push in the third being down a couple,” Allen explained. “We found a way to get through it, especially in the last two, two and a half minutes. Some big blocks there from the guys, and it’s not going to be pretty all the time but you have to find ways to win. It’s hard to put a complete 60 (minute effort) together in this league against really good teams, teams that we’re chasing in the standings. Two big wins this week against divisional opponents.”

Here are some observations from the game:

•Throughout a challenging stretch of games the Devils have kept the mindset that they can overcome any deficit and win games. This has been key in these tight matchups.

“I think this stretch of games - Florida, Florida, Tampa, Carolina, (Washington) - we’ve played some really good teams,” Dillon explained. “This stretch of hockey we’ve had to be on our toes, we’ve had to take in a little bit of water at points, and bend but not break. We know they’ve got good talented players, they’re going to get their opportunities. A few times tonight whether it was blocking that extra shot or finding a stick in front to box out, I thought we did a pretty good job overall. Jake (Allen) had a great game and everybody contributed.”

•The Devils power play continues to roll, even against the NHL's fourth-best penalty kill. New Jersey saw power play goals from both units during this contest. Although the Devils were 2-for-5 on the man-advantage, their first power play only lasted 18 seconds. In the final power play, Washington pushed back and challenged New Jersey, keeping them from scoring a third power play goal.

•The Capitals have one of the best offenses in the league and the Devils knew they would be a tough challenge 5-on-5. New Jersey remained calm under waves of pressure from Washington, especially in the third period. When there were defensive breakdowns and the Capitals flexed their speed, Jake Allen remained strong in net.

"I think we've protected our goalies for the most part but there's going to be cracks, there's going to be mistakes," Keefe shared. "We're going to have to rely on them to come up with a save and keep you in the game. That's exactly what happened here tonight. The guys did a good job in front of Allen, and then he rewards them with a big save at the end after we make a mistake."

•Two straight games with a goal for defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton showed his lethal shot plenty against the Capitals as he recorded seven shots on goal in this game.

“Scoring that goal last game seems to have done wonders for him,” Keefe said about Hamilton’s performance. “A lot of the structure, the way that they killed penalties tonight, they were kind of leaving Hamilton (open). When that’s the case we need him to fire away and make them regret that decision. I loved that he was shooting it today. He had one in the third period that was labeled for the top corner and it just missed but really good sign for us that he’s shooting it like that.”

•Head coach Sheldon Keefe has discussed the importance of Devils players putting their bodies on the line and buying in. In the win, New Jersey had 28 blocked shots. Brett Pesce led the team with six while Jonas Siegenthaler had five. With this effort, the Devils were able to limit the Capitals to 25 shots.

“Some long sequences in our zone but they still finished with 25 shots,” Keefe said. “That’s a credit to guys just trusting the structure, sticking with it, and finding ways to win.”

The Devils return home for two straight games at Prudential Center, starting with a Monday night game against the Nashville Predators.