The Washington Capitals took the first half of a back-to-back against the New Jersey Devils last night in DC. Could they complete the two-game sweep and would their Russian superstars stay hot?

Alex Ovechkin received a beautiful pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov to open the scoring. Nicklas Backstrom got some of the same from Tom Wilson to double the lead. Conor Sheary sniped the Caps to a three-goal lead in the third. Ovi got his second of the night on a one-timer.

Ilya Samsonov with the shutout.

Caps beat Devils 4-0!

• Bailamos! But the game was boring so slowly dance your way to this gem.
• A few sloppy shifts didn’t stop the Caps from jumping out to a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes. I thought they lost a little focus in the period and were a tad too careless with the puck after going up two. Ilya Samsonov was forced to be quite sharp on a couple of New Jersey rush chances.
• Linesman Kory Nagy got a full-on body check from Zdeno Chara along the boards in the first. This reminds me that NHL on-ice officials are absolutely crazy people for going out there wearing the minimal protection that they do.
• Alex Ovechkin now has nine goals in his last eight and ten goals in his last ten. Ovi is now only nine goals away from overtaking the great Marcel Dionne for fifth all-time in goal scoring. He was set up first by Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s best pass of the season as Kuzy stays red hot with eleven points in his last nine games.

just need to turn these shenanigans into a feature-length film at this point pic.twitter.com/7w8a0XRr2n

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 26, 2021

• Not a whole lot to talk about when it comes to the second period. It felt like the hockey equivalent of a ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal. Samsonov was sure forcing the Devils to dredge their way through forty minutes.
• Someone please find Jakub Vrana a lucky bounce. Keep shooting the puck, Jake.
• My favorite defense pairing, Zdeno Chara and Nick Jensen were perfection through two periods. At five-on-five with those two on the ice, the Caps had a plus-eight shot attempt differential, a plus-nine scoring chance differential, and a plus-four high danger chance differential. The Devils had no scoring chances at five-on-five with those two dudes playing against them. Line ’em up and knock ’em down.
• Do you have a McNugget minute to spare for me to share my Taco Bell take? All we need now is a Roy Rogers replay. Whopper.

The @ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen are rocking Thanos themed jerseys and Infinity Gauntlet gloves for Super Hero night tonight. 🤩

📸: @JaxIcemen pic.twitter.com/2uC0L9IXFX

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 26, 2021

• The third was pretty much a carbon copy of the second. The Caps are at their best under Peter Laviolette when they play boring hockey with the lead. Just straight facts, my friends.
• Richard Panik didn’t do much during the actual game but pregame he was slappin’ da bass with Tom Wilson and Carl Hagelin.
• Peter let me know that before the late Caps power play that Vrana had been benched for most of the second and third periods. He took three shifts in the third before getting out there for thirty or so seconds on the Caps second unit power play.
• I tweeted that Conor Sheary was noticeably active and good in the first twelve or so minutes of regulation. He rewarded me with a two-point night, including the Caps third goal. Said goal was an absolute snipe.
• I’ve mentioned Ilya Samsonov in a couple of other bullets but this one is for him alone. Sammy was outstanding in this game and earned the first shutout of his season and the second of his career.

A+ coordination tonight from @JoeBpXp and Locker #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/w1whju4ILe

— Zack Snyder’s Good Tweet Pete (@peterhassett) March 26, 2021

The Caps will get a day off and then play a home-and-home against the New York Rangers spread over three days. Stop the Rangers from scoring eight times and you’re doing better than at least one East Division team.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Devils

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington