Devils down Washington Capitals in second preseason game

The Washington Capitals are two games into the preseason but still searching for that first win. After falling to the Boston Bruins in a shootout on Sunday, the Caps were back in action against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils came away with a 5-4 win with Nico Hischier scoring on the power play with 1:12 left. The game also featured a shootout.

The Caps lineup featured a mix of veterans and youth. Yegor Sharangovich gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 5:49 in the first. With the Devils on the power play almost midway through the period, John Carlson stole the puck and raced down the ice before his shot went through. 1-1 was the score after the opening period and shots were even at eight apiece.

Jack Hughes gave the Devils the lead 45 seconds into the second period. The Caps would get a power play minutes later and Anthony Mantha dished the puck to Evgeny Kuznetsov before he found Carlson at the point. Carlson ripped it through for his second goal of the game.

Alexander Holtz gave the Devils the lead right back at 12:33. The Caps would tie it right back up 27 seconds later. Michal Kempny, in his first game back since August 2020, gave the puck to Hendrix Lapierre. Lapierre found T.J. Oshie for a breakaway and the Oshbabe finished it. After two assists the other night, Lapierre is making a serious case to try and surprise people by making the opening night roster.

Lapierre added his second assist of the night at 19:09, dishing the puck off to Mike Vecchione for a shot up the middle to give the Caps the lead 4-3 on the plower play. The Caps led in shots 9-7 in the second period.

In the third period, the Devils scored two unanswered goals. The first came at 5:35 from Dawson Mercer while Hischier scored with 1:12 left to give them the win. Zach Fucale got the start in goal and stopped 12 of the 15 shots he faced. Ilya Samsonov took over for the third period stopping six of the eight shots he faced.

Oshie had good things to say about Hendrix Lapierre:

"“He’s confident in his game and I think it shows on the ice. The way he was carrying the puck out there, he looked like he was just playing free. Just making his reads, and a lot of times they were the right ones.”"

The Caps are off today but will continue training camp tomorrow with another exhibition game taking place this Saturday in Philly.