Devils win in shootout
The Capitals had several golden chances to put Monday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils out of reach. They had five different power-play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 53 seconds that failed to produce a critical goal.
In the NHL, that will always prove costly. So it was against the Devils, who instead scored the game-tying goal with 6 minutes, 26 seconds left and then stole an extra point in the shootout at Verizon Center when goalie Martin Brodeur made a pair of saves for a 3-2 win.
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The Caps earned a standings point and are now 2-2-2 overall. But the team’s third-period woes continue. They are 0-2-2 over the last four games and have had the lead or been tied in the final period each time. Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell scored late in regulation last Tuesday before the Flyers beat the Caps in overtime, 6-5. The New York Rangers scored twice in the third period last Thursday to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 win at Verizon Center. Detroit then scored a late goal in the third period to break a 2-2 tie Saturday night. On Monday, Devils forward David Clarkson finished a dominant shift by his line to tie the game at 2 at 13:34.
“We had one bad shift in the third period and they scored on it. We couldn’t get the puck out,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “I was actually quite pleased with the resilience after that because it has happened four times in a row now and it’s easy to drop your head. … But they fought through a penalty and a 4-on-3 in the overtime [to gain a point].”
It was a tough loss for Caps goalie Jose Theodore (27 saves), who made a pair of brilliant stops in overtime that left Devils forward Zach Parise shaking his head as a 4-on-3 New Jersey power play came up empty. Earlier in the game, Theodore made a nifty kick save when the Devils had numbers on a broken play. That stop directly led to a counterattack up ice. Alex Ovechkin was on the left wing and found teammate Mike Knuble streaking towards the goal on the right. He handled the cross-ice pass and his shot smashed into Brodeur’s stick and hopped over his shoulder for a 2-0 lead.
“I thought tonight we played a team game,” said Caps defenseman Mike Green. “Jose made some great saves that kept us in the game. It’s unfortunate that we went out this way. But at least we got a point.”
During the shootout, Washington took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Nicklas Backstrom. But Parise answered by beating Theodore and Brodeur stopped both Alex Semin and then Ovechkin to secure the win for the Devils. Knuble and Green – celebrating his 24th birthday – each scored in the first period for the Caps before Brian Rolston’s goal at 8 minutes, 18 seconds of the second period pulled New Jersey within one. Washington’s power-play struggles then gave the Devils the chance they needed in the third period.
“Those are the ones that you have to have the killer instinct and put it away,” Boudreau said. “For whatever reason, we had the same trouble at the beginning of last year with the 5-on-3 [power plays]. Everybody wants to be the scorer and nobody wants to be the guy doing the grunt work in front of the net.”
