Four second-period goals lift Capitals past Devils
Oct 24, 2022
Charlie Lindgren made 38 saves and the visiting Washington Capitals erupted for four second-period goals to defeat the New Jersey Devils 6-3 on Monday night.
Garnet Hathaway, Nick Jensen and Aliaksei Protas each had a goal and an assist for Washington, which opened a four-game road stretch. Alex Ovechkin scored his third goal of the season, and Lindgren picked up his first win as a Capital.
Nathan Bastian, Tomas Tatar and Jesper Bratt scored for New Jersey. Mackenzie Blackwood made 13 saves over two periods, and former Capital Vitek Vanecek stopped three-of-four shots in the third period.
The Caps improved to 11-0-1 vs. the Devils since the start of the 2020-21 season.
The Devils were denied their first four-game winning streak since they opened the 2018-19 season 4-0-0.
Bastian gave New Jersey an early 1-0 lead when he knocked in his own rebound at 4:49 of the first period.
Beck Malenstyn, making his season debut, controlled a puck behind the Devils net and fed Nic Dowd for the short-side goal that tied it 1-1 at 10:46.
The Capitals used a pair of two-goal bursts to take a 5-1 lead in the second.
Hathaway played the puck to himself along the boards and then scored from the left circle to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 9:16.
With New Jersey on a power play, Conor Sheary intercepted a Bratt pass in the Devils zone and beat Blackwood from the slot at 10:03.
Ovechkin made it 4-1 at 17:14 with a one-timer from the left circle on a power play, and Jensen pushed it to 5-1 just 33 seconds later with a shot from the point.
Tatar knocked in a loose puck during a scramble in front to pull the Devils within 5-2 at 4:08 in the third period.
Bratt extended his point streak to six games when he got behind the defense during a line change and scored to make it 5-3 at 9:06.
Lindgren robbed Yegor Sharangovich with a right pad save with about six minutes remaining, and Protas iced it when he finished off a 2-on-1 rush at 16:11.
--Field Level Media