Wilson, Capitals recover to defeat Devils in OT

NEWARK, N.J. -- Tom Wilson scored his second goal of the game with 1:00 remaining in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 6-5 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Wilson skated down the left wing and scored on a snap shot from the left face-off circle for the fourth overtime goal of his NHL career.

"It was an odd-man rush and I was kind of waiting to maybe slide it over, and got into some pretty good ice and just tried to shoot it in a good spot," Wilson said. "I'll take it."

Wilson extended his season-opening goal streak to four games (five goals) and had an assist, Dylan Strome had a goal and two assists, and Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the season for the Capitals (3-1-0), who won their third in a row. Connor McMichael had a goal and an assist, Trevor van Riemsdyk had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 26 saves.

"He's getting rewarded for what he's doing out there," Ovechkin, the Washington captain, said of Wilson. "You can see he's feeling it right now ... the hottest guy in the League, so I'm happy for him."

Ovechkin has 854 goals, 40 shy of the NHL record held by Wayne Gretzky (894).

Nico Hischier had two goals and an assist, Timo Meier had three assists, and Jacob Markstrom made 31 saves for the Devils (5-2-1). Stefan Noesen had two assists.

"We didn't deserve to win that game," said Hischier, the New Jersey captain. "It was good that we fought back and got a point out of it, but we were outcompeted, outskated in the first period and that should not happen. If that's not there every game, you're not giving yourself a chance to win in this league."

The Devils tied the game with two goals in the third period. Dawson Mercer pulled them within 5-4 on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle at 3:39, and Dougie Hamilton's power-play goal on a one-timer from the high slot made it 5-5 at 12:28.

"It was good we were able to react and come back, but then we did the same thing," Meier said. "We’ve definitely got to learn from this, especially in our building. We’ve got to play better in front of our fans and make this a harder place to play. We haven't done a good enough job."

Erik Haula gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 4:45 of the first period on a wrist shot from along the left-wing boards.

Wilson responded for Washington 1:16 later to tie it 1-1 at 6:01 on a shot from the left face-off circle past Markstrom's glove. He tied the Capitals record for the longest goal streak to begin a season, matching Ovechkin (2013-14), Mike Gartner (1987-88) and Dennis Maruk (1979-80).

"Sometimes they're going in and you’ve got to enjoy it," Wilson said. "It's a tough league to score goals. It's a lot of good passes, a lot of good teammates, and I'm always happy to help this team win. We're coming together as a group and that's all that matters right now."

McMichael gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 10:14 on a rebound to the right of the net, and Ovechkin pushed it to 3-1 on a deflection from the slot at 14:18.

Hischier scored twice in 10 seconds in the opening 44 seconds of the second period for a 3-3 tie. His first goal came from the slot off a pass from Noesen at 34 seconds, and he got his second on a wrist shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

"It was captainlike; impressive," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "It was unfortunate that we don't get rewarded for that and take off from there."

Andrew Mangiapane put Washington back in front 4-3 at 9:15 on a shot at the right post before Strome made it 5-3 at 12:33 on a tip-in from the slot.

"The Wilson, McMichael, Pierre-Luc Dubois line is fun to watch," Strome said. "The way they hold the puck, protect it and use each other. We're playing good, top to bottom, and have to continue to find a way to do that."

NOTES: Ovechkin has 15 goals at Prudential Center, tied for the record by a visiting player, held by Patrice Bergeron. Ovechkin scored his 42nd goal against the Devils, passing Sidney Crosby for the fourth most. Gartner is the leader with 57. ... Hischier's two goals in 10 seconds are the fastest two goals by the same player in Kansas City Scouts/Colorado Rockies/Devils history; the previous mark of 24 seconds was set by Wilf Paiement for the Rockies against the Cleveland Barons on Nov. 19, 1977. Hischier’s two goals were also the fastest to start a period in franchise history. ... New Jersey defenseman Brenden Dillon played his 900th NHL game. He had three hits, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in 25:24 of ice time.