The Washington Capitals made easy work of a very bad New Jersey Devils team, taking them down 6-3 on Friday night. It was a night of 900s and when your team is doing things with numbers that high, it’s gonna be good.
The Caps out-shot the Devils 29 to 27 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 52 to 26.
- The Caps pretty much had the puck the entire game. You will win a lot if you do that in the NHL. I was a little peeved by some of the lack of concentration on defense once they gained a lead, but cant really complain about a three goal win on the road.
- The big story is obviously both Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scoring goals in the 900th game that the two have played together for the Caps. Legends, the both of them.
- Nicky actually went on to record a four point night overall (23rd of his career) and reach the 900th career point threshold as well. Because of course he did. He is only the seventh Swedish player to get to 900, only the second Capitals player to record 900 points with the club (Ovechkin), and the first player to reach the total from his draft class (2006).
Most games as teammates in NHL history (from NHL Stats, not including games Thursday)
Red is active players. pic.twitter.com/lIed3AU5yn
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) December 20, 2019
- Ovi’s 16th road goal of this season was his 346th career road goal. That ties him with Marcel Dionne for sixth all time in the NHL for road snipers. We are now exactly 20 Ovi goals away from the big 700.
- The Caps defensemen were all over the place in this game and it showed on the stat sheet. They chipped in two goals and four assists which is the best output from the blueline so far this season.
- Ilya Samsonov is now 9-2-1 on the season, sporting a 2.43 goals against average and a 91.6 save percentage.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Devils
Headline photo: NBCSN
