The Washington Capitals vanquished their biggest rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins, last night. Now, on the very next night, they’ll turn their attention to the upstart New Jersey Devils, who sit two points behind them in the Metropolitan Division standings.
The Caps will have offseason free-agent signing Max Pacioretty for the first time this season, while they’ll turn to Hunter Shepard in goal for some more beardy magic.
Tonight’s game is on TNT. Puck drop is a little after 7:30 pm.
Lines
Alex Alexeyev, Joel Edmundson, and Hendrix Lapierre are the healthy scratches.
Lineys!#CapsDevils | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/3VHEO7GeoJ
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 4, 2024
Tunnel weirdness
Happy homestand vibes#ALLCAPS | @CaesarsSports pic.twitter.com/SKBJEs2o2X
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 4, 2024
1st Period
Hunter Shepard will oppose Nico Daws in net. Protas-McMichael-Mantha and TVR-Jensen get the start.
🚨 1-0 Devils. Nico Hischier, not tied up by Ethan Bear, finds a rebound at his feet and he’s able to elude Hunter Shepard from the slot. The goal came 3:03 into the period.
Devils dump it in. Weird carom off the end boards nearly bounces off Hunter Shepard and in. He stopped it right at the goal line.
Rasmus Sandin’s huge slap shot nearly bounces off a Devils defenseman and in. Daws makes the save at the last second.
Max Pacioretty is already on the scoresheet! Two minutes for tripping.
🚨 2-0 Devils. On the resulting power play, Nico Hischier deflects a Luke Hughes shot past Hunter Shepard from the slot.
Nick Jensen takes a Nico Hischier chip shot to the face and leaves the ice bleeding.
Matthew Phillips draws a penalty behind the net.
🚨 2-1 Devils. Connor McMichael beats Nico Daws from the right circle on the power play as he catches the Devils goalie leaning. The goal comes at the 18:38 mark of the first.
Alex Ovechkin destroys Jack Hughes with a hit from behind in the offensive zone. Officials deem it legal. Capitals nearly score on the mad scramble afterward.
The Capitals outshot the Devils 9-8 but were out-attempted 14-13 at five-on-five.
2nd Period
Set play. First shift of the second period. Anthony Mantha tips the puck to Connor McMichael off a breakout from behind the net. McMichael peels around the Devils and goes in on a breakaway. He dekes to his backhand but Daws is able to stop him.
🚨 3-1 Devils. Dawson Mercer beats Shepard from the slot, high short side. The goal came 8:08 into the period.
🚨 3-2 Devils. Alex Ovechkin hits Evgeny Kuznetsov with a pass into the offensive zone, breaking the Russian centerman in on a breakaway. Kuzy scores low to the ice. The play looked potentially offside but no challenge from the Devils. Bird celly commences!
Evgeny Kuznetsov rips a one-timer off the post. Laughing, he then proceeds to talk to Daws and touch the puck after the next whistle.
This.
A chunk of ice along the side boards got dislodged causing a stoppage in play for repairs. Ovechkin picked up the ice and put it in Vitek Vanecek's goalie glove on the Devils' bench. 😂
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) January 4, 2024
Tom Wilson draws a penalty. Caps go back to the power play late in the period.
🚨 3-3 tie. John Carlson ties it up on the power play. Caps have 2 PPGs on the night. Tally came with 1:02 remaining.
Semi-breakaway for Nic Dowd and Daws makes a huge save.
🚨 4-3 Devils. Michael McLeod lands a huge hit on Martin Fehervary in the Caps offensive zone. The Devils race down the ice with the puck, give it back to McLeod and he scores as he’s falling down backwards. No-look five-hole. Wow. Goal came with 24 seconds remaining in the period.
Devils outshooting the Capitals 20-19 and out-attempting them 39-27 at five-on-five.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
🚨 5-3 Devils. Dawson Mercer scores again on a snap shot 7:16 into the period. Caps down two again.
🚨 6-3 Devils. A comedy of errors in front of the net, including Evgeny Kuznetsov trying to hit a Devils player in the head, ends up with Michael McLeod sliding the puck past Shepard. This game is sadly over.
Tom Wilson, on the Capitals bench, screaming at Brendan Smith in the penalty box after the Devils defenseman boards Beck Malenstyn with 8 seconds remaining. Wilson appeared to say something along the lines of that’s three times. Smith laughed and shook his head in the box.
Devils win 6-3. They outshoot the Capitals 28-26. The Devils out-attempted the Capitals 59-35 at five-on-five. Hunter Shepard never looked comfortable in this game. The Devils have no won four of their last five games.
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