Kuznetsov has 2 goals, Capitals hold off Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Evgeny Kuznetsov scored two goals, and the Washington Capitals held off the New Jersey Devils for a 4-2 win at Prudential Center on Friday.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel had a goal and an assist in his season debut, Tom Wilson had two assists and Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves for the Capitals (6-4-2), who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.

"It was a gritty one tonight, going up 3-0, we knew they weren't going to go away easy, and they certainly punched back in the third," Lindgren said. "But being able to come out on top in their building is a really good win for our guys."

Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils (7-5-1), who have lost three of four (1-3-0). Vitek Vanecek allowed two goals on five shots before being replaced by Akira Schmid at 10:37 of the first period. Schmid made 20 saves.

"Some of it was execution ... we didn't execute early on and didn't win enough puck battles," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought they skated better than us, but we had chances to make plays. We gained some traction in the third but didn't execute."

Washington scored twice in a 15-second span in the first period to take a 2-0 lead.

Aube-Kubel put the Capitals ahead 1-0 at 10:22 on a slap shot from the right face-off circle after being recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League earlier Friday.

Beck Malenstyn made it 2-0 with a wrist shot 15 seconds later at 10:37 for his first goal of the season. Martin Fehervary had an assist on the play, but he left after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period.

"I thought we were ready from the start, that first shift, Kuznetsov's line with (Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson) sort of set the tone right away," Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. "Then Aube-Kubel, Nic Dowd and Malenstyn had a lot of energy on the fourth line.

Dowd returned after missing nine games because of an upper-body injury.

"For the first time this year, we had sort of our natural fourth line, a real identity. It was what we thought our fourth line would look like. So, credit to them. Dowd comes in, and I thought he was excellent."

Kuznetsov extended it to 3-0 at 6:34 of the second period on a snap shot from the slot off a pass from Wilson on a 2-on-0.

"It was a good start, but then we give up a couple goals late in the third, so they were able to come back, but eventually we got the [win]," Kuznetsov said. "That's all that matters. For us, it was very important to get the [win], especially in the first game of the back to back. The coaches will look what went wrong and we're going to fix that part for sure."

Meier cut it to 3-1 at 7:13 of the third period, scoring on a shot at the right post.

Mercer made it 3-2 at 9:12 with a shot from the slot after taking a backhand pass from Tyler Toffoli along the left wing boards.

"They won more battles early in the game and we were chasing the game," Meier said. "You've got to play a full 60 minutes; we didn't do that. You can earn confidence with hard work, so you've got to go out there and simply work."

The Devils were without center Nico Hischier (upper-body injury) for a sixth straight game, and center Jack Hughes (upper body) missed his third in a row.

"We have to find ways to be creative without Nico and Jack," Ruff said. "We miss them. Our game can't be the same without those guys, but we have to keep grinding."

Kuznetsov scored an empty-net goal at 18:09 for the 4-2 final.

"I liked Kuznetsov's line, getting him back with Ovechkin," Carbery said. "That (third) goal is a huge goal to get us up three, and he has the dagger at the end (into the empty net). I thought they did a lot of good things."

NOTES: Carbery had no update on Fehervary. ... It was Washington's fastest two goals since Dec. 19, 2022 (11 seconds against the Detroit Red Wings). ... Kuznetsov has 558 points (168 goals, 390 assists) in 692 games and passed Dale Hunter (556 points) for seventh in Capitals history. ... Devils forward Tomas Nosek played 10:34 in his return after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. ... New Jersey has a minus-10 goal differential at 5-on-5.