The Devils are fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 28-22-4.
The Devils are fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 28-22-4.
The Washington Capitals handed the New Jersey Devils a frustrating 6-2 loss at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night.
The Capitals opened the scoring 39 seconds after the puck dropped. Connor McMichael scored his ninth goal of the season on a rebound. A tough line change and misassignment between defensemen Brendan Smith and Luke Hughes resulted in McMichael being wide-open in front of Nico Daws.
Head coach Lindy Ruff swapped his defensive pairs less than five minutes into the first period, putting Jonas Siegenthaler with Hughes and Smith with Simon Nemec.
With a little over five minutes remaining in the opening period, Alexander Holtz scored his 13th of the season after receiving a pass from Simon Nemec. It was the Swede's first goal since Jan. 19.
The Devils and Capitals entered the first intermission deadlocked at 1-1. Entering Tuesday night's game, New Jersey had a record of 10-11-1 when tied with their opponent after the first period.
McMichael scored his second of the night 4:17 into the second period. It was a beautiful individual effort by the 23-year-old that was unassisted.
The Devils outshot the Capitals in the middle frame, 17-7, but skated into the second intermission down 2-1.
The wheels came off for New Jersey in the third period.
Dylan Strome extended Washington's lead to 3-1 a little over four minutes into the third period. Alex Ovechkin earned the primary assist, extending his point streak to nine games.
Less than five minutes later, Ovechkin scored his 15th goal of the season. Strome collected his second point of the night, earning the lone assist.
Michael Sgarbossa scored his first goal of the 2023-24 season 12:27 into the period to extend the Capitals lead to 5-1.
Devils forward Erik Haula's 12th of the season made it 5-2. Tyler Toffoli and Brendan Smith collected the helpers. New Jersey's second line of Haula, Toffoli, and Jack Hughes combined for 16 shots on Washington netminder Charlie Lindgren.
Ovechkin potted his second of the night on the power play with less than a minute remaining in the game to secure a 6-2 Washington victory.
Daws made 19 saves on 25 shots and finished the game with a .760 save percentage.
UP NEXT: The Devils will host the New York Rangers on Thursday, Feb. 22.
LINES:
Ondrej Palat - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Jack Hughes - Erik Haula - Tyler Toffoli
Timo Meier - Curtis Lazar - Dawson Mercer
Alexander Holtz - Tomas Nosek - Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler - Simon Nemec
Brendan Smith - Luke Hughes
Kevin Bahl - Colin Miler
Nico Daws
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