The Washington Capitals got off to a fast start, survived a second period scare and held on in the third for their second win this season against the New Jersey Devils in the first of two games at Prudential Center this weekend. The final was another 5-2 score.
The Caps struck first at 3:36 when Justin Schultz fed a nice pass through traffic to Garnet Hathaway, who was right by the goal. It was Hathaway’s third of the season. Carl Hagelin had the secondary assist and it would be the first of three goals scored by the Caps in the opening period.
At 5:06 the Caps doubled their lead when Daniel Sprong deflected in a shot from Brenden Dillon. John Carlson had the secondary assist. It was initially given to Dillon before being switched back.
The Caps made it 3-0 with a goal at 13:40. There was some back and fourth passing between Conor Sheary and Lars Eller before Sheary finally set Eller up for his fourth goal of the season.
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The Devils would get on the board at 18:16 with a goal from Nico Hischier at 18:16. 3-1 would be the score after one. The Caps led in shots 14-8.
In the second the Devils would pull within one with a goal from Pavel Zacha at 6:09. There was only a combined nine shots the entire second period with the Devils having the 5-4 edge.
In the third the Caps got some insurance. Jakub Vrana had a breakaway goal at 11:49 for his sixth of the season. Carlson and Tom Wilson had the helpers.
The Caps would seal the game at 19:06 with an empty net goal from Nic Dowd for his third of the season. Hagelin had the assist on that.
Hathaway talked after the game about how well the team has adapted to Peter Laviolette’s system via Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic:
"“I think it has to do with less reacting and more anticipating. Once guys are getting comfortable with the system you can see it. When guys aren’t wasting time or energy or thinking too much, that’s when we anticipate the play and then you see that work ethic take over in a battle, beating guys to the puck. I think that’s what creates our offense a lot too.”"
The Caps and Devils will meet again this afternoon in a rematch from The Rock. Puck drop is at 3 p.m. and you can catch the game on NBC Sports Washington.