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Devils beat Caps 6-0

By Peter Hassett

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October 11, 2018 9:44 pm

After averaging approximately thirty-five goals in their first three games, the Washington Capitals stunk up the joint while the New Jersey Devils ran the show in their home opener.

Kyle Palmieri notched two goals in the first period – one to Pheonix Copley’s five hole and the second on the power play. Prodigal son Marcus Johansson snapped a long shot to record his first goal of the season and put the Caps in a three-goal hole heading into the third period. Blake Coleman, Jean-Sebastien Dea, and Brian Boyle all piled on in the third period to make it an unspeakably brutal defeat that we will all now speak about for about 500 words and then a bunch of comments.

Caps lose 6-0.

Owen is making me do this. Rules are rules.

  • The Washington debut of backup goalie Phoenix Copley started with some big saves, but the skaters ahead of Copley gave him little reprieve from dangerous shots. It was a decent start for Copley, but in retrospect this game was a loser from the drop.
  • Ex-Cap Marcus Johansson missed 53 games last season, but he looked just fine in this one, recording his first goal since December 29, 2017.
  • So what didn’t work for the Caps? Well, for starters, everything. The Devils dominated play on every shift, especially against the Ovi line, who were doubled up by Jersey in shot attempts, and the Eller line, who got trounced (like 10 percent of attempts) in mostly defensive usage. We have to hope this was all due to exhaustion from the back-to-back games, travel, and comedown from the dizzying highs of the season’s first week.
  • One worrying sign from this game that I hope fades along with the fatigue toxins: the Caps defense couldn’t clear the crease. They gave up a ton of nice chances, which was way too reminiscent of last season’s D woes.
  • Gone is the Devils’ trap play of years past. Instead, their forecheck was relentless, flummoxing the Caps’ breakout attempts. The Devils might not be Actually Good™ just yet, but they’re a lot more fun then they used to be.
  • Fun has its limits, as we learned when Damon Severson harassed Evgeny Kuznetsov in the first period. That escalated into a near-fight between Miles Wood and Alex Ovechkin, which would have been a sight to see.
  • In reply to that fracas, NBC Sports analyst Craig Laughlin said (presumably with a straight face), “This is where Tom Wilson can settle down a game.” That is one buckwild comment. That comment is lost in the buckwilderness. Search-and-rescue teams have been deployed with flashlights and homemade granola to bring that comment back to civilization.

Burn the tape. The Caps will come home tonight and prepare to host the red-hot Auston Matthews and his Maple Leafs on Saturday night. It should be a fun one, assuming the real Caps show up.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps @ New Jersey Devils

Headline photo: Bruce Bennett

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