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Washington Capitals: Three Second Period Goals was the Difference in Win Over Devils

By Michael Marzzacco

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 19: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals and the rest of the team celebrate the 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on March 19, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 19: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals and the rest of the team celebrate the 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on March 19, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Capitals bounced back from their loss in Tampa Bay with a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Three second period goals helped propel them to this victory.

The win, combined with an Islanders shutout to the Bruins, has put the Washington Capitals in sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division. Their record improves to 43-23-7 with 93 points, two points ahead of the Islanders. If the season ended today, the Capitals would face the Hurricanes in the first round, not the Penguins.

The Capitals struck first at 2:52 with Andre Burakovsky‘s 12th goal of the season. He ripped a nice shot from the left face-off area that went top-shelf right-corner past Devils goalie Cory Schneider. The Devils tied it with just a second left in what was a sluggish first period for the Capitals. The goal came from Kenny Agostino.

The bad first period was well made up in the second period. At 5:57, Christian Djoos fed Brett Connolly a great pass through traffic. Connolly was right in front of the net and he tapped it in for his first 20-goal season. The Capitals now have five players with at least 20 goals this season, tied with a few other teams for the second-most.

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The Capitals added another at 12:16 when Jakub Vrana fed Evgeny Kuznetsov a long pass. Kuznetsov broke away, looked at T.J. Oshie as if he was going to pass it to him, but shot it instead for his 19th goal of the season. He needs one more for the 20-goal club.

Then it was Alex Ovechkin making the pass. We all know Ovechkin for his natural scoring ability but his passing skill often gets under-looked. He fed a cross-ice pass to Tom Wilson who shot it right past the legs of Schneider. Nicklas Backstrom had the secondary assist on the Wilson goal for his 50th assist of the season. That’s six straight seasons with 50 assists. Backstrom becomes the 26th player in NHL history to accomplish this.

Pheonix Copley stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced for a .952 save percentage to win his sixth game in a row. Copley’s record improves to 16-5-3 with a 2.88 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. Braden Holtby will get the start Wednesday night against the Lightning.

The Capitals and Lightning will now take centerstage for the hockey world to see once again on Wednesday Night Hockey. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. and it’s broadcasted nationally on the NBC Sports Network.

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