The Washington Capitals will look to continue a pair of streaks when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night in Newark, N.J.
Washington has won six straight road games and three games in a row overall, while the Devils have won four of their last five and 11 of their last 15.
The teams will meet for the fourth and final time this season, with the Devils owning a 2-1-0 advantage. The road team has won all three games.
Both teams will play the second of back-to-back sets on Saturday. The visiting Devils beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Friday, and the Capitals rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the visiting New York Islanders 5-4 in overtime.
Defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored at 1:20 of overtime for Washington. Tom Wilson scored two goals and Dylan Strome collected a goal and two assists for the Capitals. Connor McMichael had three assists and Logan Thompson made 20 saves.
“Just shows that we’re a really good hockey team,” McMichael said of the comeback. “There’s an old saying that good teams always find a way to win, and I think it just proves that we’re a really good hockey team and we’ve got guys with high character that never give up on pucks, plays or games.”
Washington was 2-for-4 on the power play while killing off all three opportunities by New York.
The Capitals rallied after a poor second period that saw the Islanders score three times to take a 4-2 lead.
“When we have a bad period, we take a lot of pride in turning it around the next period, so (you) don’t see very many back-to-back periods where we don’t have it,” Chychrun said.
Strome has six points (two goals, four assists) in a three-game point streak, and Chychrun has six points (two goals, four assists) in a three-game point streak.
Dougie Hamilton, Timo Meier and Jack Hughes each scored a power-play goal in New Jersey’s win at Detroit.
The Devils, who rallied from an early 2-0 deficit, have surrendered the first goal on the opponent’s first shot in the last three games.
“Obviously we don’t like the way we started here tonight; that’s something we’ve got to get addressed, clearly,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “But loved our power play, went out and reset the game for us, and then from there, we get down again, but we fight our way back and give ourselves a lead and then build that lead so that they get one and it’s not enough, and it gives us a chance to keep fighting to the end.”
Captain Nico Hischier scored his 150th NHL goal — and fourth in New Jersey’s past three games. He added an assist.
“He impacts the game in so many ways,” Keefe said. “Those are the things you need when it isn’t really your night as a team. You need individuals to step up and make a difference, and he certainly was one of those guys tonight.”
Devils forward Tomas Tatar was caught in a collision along the boards and did not play after the first period because of a lower-body injury.
–Field Level Media
