The New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals faced off on Saturday night for an important intra-divisional matchup at Capital One Arena. Jake Allen stopped 23 of 25 (.920 save percentage) as the Devils grinded out a 3-2 victory. The Devils are now 14-7-2; the Capitals fall to 13-6-1.
The first period started with chances going both ways, until Matt Roy scored his first of the season for the Capitals. The puck deflected off Nolan Foote’s glove.
The Devils got a power play a couple of minutes later and knotted it up on their seventh shot of the man advantage – Tomas Tatar knocked it past Charlie Lindgren in tight.
Seven minutes into the second period, the hockey gods evened it up for the Caps’ first goal. A Brenden Dillon wrist shot deflected off John Carlson’s stick and in, putting the Devils up 2-1. Like Roy, it was Dillon’s first of the season too. Then the Devils’ power play struck again to make it 3-1 – Dougie Hamilton scored for the second game in a row.
Hi, my name is Dougie and I will ALWAYS hit dingers. #NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazing pic.twitter.com/4u7WwBjsTX
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 24, 2024
The Capitals gave the Devils a taste of their own medicine to start the third, as Connor McMichael scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2. The Devils blocked a ton of shots afterward, going over seven minutes without letting one through to the net. Then the Capitals pulled Lindgren for the extra attacker and Allen made a miraculous stop, going post-to-post and robbing McMichael.
Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer blocked two more as the time ticked down, and that was it. In total, the Devils blocked 28 shots in this one. They’ve now won four of their last five, all against teams in playoff position.
The Devils will next be in action on Monday night at the Prudential Center,] to take on the Nashville Predators. The Capitals will also play Monday night in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers.
