The Washington Capitals know that at this point in the season, every point matters. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to help them overpower the New Jersey Devils as they lost some traction in their push for the playoffs.

While Cole Hutson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson helped D.C. get on the board, the offense couldn't do much else, and mistakes in the defensive zone led to a 7-3 loss.

Here are the takeaways as Washington's three-game win streak comes to an end. The team still remains three points out of the second Wild Card spot and four out of third in the Metropolitan Division.

After Cody Glass and Dawson Mercer got the Devils out to an early 2-0 lead, the Capitals needed some life, and Cole Hutson stepped up to provide it.

Tom Wilson got the puck out of the zone and passed it up ice, where Hendrix Lapierre and Hutson sped toward the loose biscuit. Lapierre pushed it up to Hutson for the breakaway, and he made no mistake, sniping home his first on an NHL goaltender and cutting things to 2-1.

Hutson has six points through his first eight games in the NHL.

Minutes later, Washington went to the power play, where Pierre-Luc Dubois camped out in front. He then buried Ryan Leonard's rebound to even the score with his first goal in 12 games.

Dubois now has five points in last two games overall, while Leonard extended his point streak to three games. Meanwhile, the power play now has goals in four consecutive outings.

Ultimately, it was a back-and-forth first, and D.C. went into the second trailing after a go-ahead goal from Dougie Hamilton. From there, New Jersey would take off running to put things out of reach.

Trailing by one going into the second, the Capitals got their share of looks, but couldn't get any high-danger chances, let alone solve a very dialed-in Jake Allen.

D.C. couldn't shut down Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, something that the team did a fairly good job of earlier in the year.

Roughly halfway through the second, a turnover led to a 2-on-1 for Bratt and Hughes, where Hughes made no mistake to restore the two-goal lead and add to a dominant game for his line.

In the third, Hughes got his second of the night, finishing off a picture-perfect passing play with a power move to the front for a 5-2 lead.

While Tom Wilson would respond minutes later to pull the Capitals back within two, Hughes returned the favor quickly, chipping in on a power-play goal for Bratt. Both also assisted on Mercer's second goal of the game, an empty-netter, for respective five-point nights.

Ultimately, Washington allowed too many passes through traffic, gave the Devils' stars too much time to work with and had missed coverage that left Logan Thompson in a vulnerable spot all night long. Thompson finished the night with 22 saves on 28 shots, and it also marked the fourth straight game that the Capitals surrendered at least four goals.

Over the course of the game, the Capitals got their share of looks, but couldn't get any high-danger chances, let alone solve a very dialed-in Jake Allen.

That said, there was a lack of true high-quality opportunities, and the Devils defense did a good job in getting their sticks in the way and shutting things down, and clearing the puck out from the front.

Any chance of a rally also fell flat, as Dawson Mercer buried an empty-netter late for a 7-3 final. D.C. was also outshot 12-9 in the final frame.

Overall, it was a game where the Capitals were on their heels and unable to get a lot going in their favor.

- Ivan Miroshnichenko had his share of strong plays and looks, and did have some chances alongside David Kampf. However, he just couldn't finish.

- Playing in his second game with Washington, Kampf took a penalty late in the third and played just 8:51 in his second game with the team. He went 1-for-7 in the face-off dot.

- Speed continues to be the name of the game for D.C. down this stretch; it just wasn't there on Thursday.

- Credit to Hendrix Lapierre, who has points in three of his last four games and has done what he can to stay on the second line and show he belongs in the lineup. He also showed some grit and fight as he got into it with Glass at the end of the game.