Through six games, New Jersey has a 3-2-1 record.

 "I thought we got what we deserved tonight."

According to head coach Lindy Ruff, the New Jersey Devils suffered a deserved 6-4 loss to the Washington Capitals at Prudential Center on Wednesday night.

Anthony Mantha, Dylan Strome, and Sonny Milano all scored for the Capitals in the first period, leading to the Devils pulling goaltender Akira Schmid in favor of Vitek Vanecek to start the middle frame.

After the game, Ruff seemingly defended the play of goaltenders, acknowledging the poor play of the five skaters in front of them.

"Did you see the number of times they skated right through us? Is that our goalie's fault? At the start of the third period, when they skated right through us, is that our goalie's fault? ...There are five guys in front of our goaltender."

The Devils came out flying in the second frame and grabbed a 4-3 lead, but New Jersey saw that slip away when Strome, Connor McMichael, and Alex Ovechkin scored in the third period.

Jack Hughes and Tyler Toffoli capped off the night with three points each. Timo Meier scored his first goal of the season, and Nico Hischier scored in his second consecutive game. Defenseman Luke Hughes earned his third point in his second game versus the Capitals.

Five Things

1. Sluggish Starts Are Becoming a Bad Habit

For a sixth consecutive game, the Devils surrendered the first goal. After 20 minutes, the club had two shots on Capitals' goaltender, Hunter Shepard, while their opponent scored three goals. The team's third line of Dawson Mercer, Erik Haula, and Alexander Holtz were the only trio ready to play at puck drop.

I think this loss is a lot on us," Meier said. "We have to find a way to have better starts, especially at home. We've talked about it before. Today was another example of just a bad start."

Toffoli agreed with his linemate.

"It's a bad habit that we're in right now," he said. "It's definitely frustrating spotting a couple of goals to the other team and then chasing it. We showed that we can dominate games, periods, and shifts. For whatever reason, it's just not there for us right now at the start."

2. Defensive Woes 

The Devils' defensive play against the Capitals was atrocious.

The coaching staff has utilized the same six defensemen and pairs through six games: Jonas Siegenthaler & Dougie Hamilton, Kevin Bahl & John Marino, and Brendan Smith & Luke Hughes.

Bahl is adjusting to a more significant role, taking over for the departed Ryan Graves, and L. Hughes is a rookie who entered this season with only five games of NHL experience. Couple that with Marino's early struggles, it makes sense that New Jersey's blue line has had a difficult time out of the gate.

During his press conference, Ruff was asked if he would consider shuffling his players around.

"Defense is a commitment by individuals, so it's not about shuffling (players around)," Ruff said. "If you don't make a commitment, it doesn't matter where I shuffle them to. The only way that you can really eliminate poor defensive players is if I shuffle them off out of the lineup."

"We needed a bigger commitment where if we're going to give up a two-on-one for the game-winning goal on a nothing play," Ruff continued. "I know we had two bodies down, but when we have two bodies down, we can't be giving up what we gave up."

It's worth noting that with Colin Miller out with an injury, Cal Foote is the extra defenseman in New Jersey right now.

3. A Switch on the Blue Line 

Speaking of the defense, the coaching staff switched to their defensive pairs at the start of the second period. Dougie Hamilton was with rookie L. Hughes for the final forty minutes, while Jonas Siegenthaler played alongside Brendan Smith.

4. An Explosive Six Minutes in the Second Period

Entering the middle frame, the Devils were down 3-0. In a span of 5:30, all that changed as New Jersey scored four times to take the lead. Toffoli scored his team's first goal 4:31 into the second period. He was quickly followed by Meier and Hischier.

Minutes later, Toffoli scored his second to give his team their first lead of the night. For those 20 minutes, the Devils were an offensive force, but their inconsistencies and inability to play a full 60 minutes made their impressive second-period comeback fall short.

5. Bratt Extends Point Streak

Devils winger Jesper Bratt earned the primary assist on Hischier's goal, which extended his point streak to five games (three goals, seven assists).