Logan Thompson made 30 saves for the Washington Capitals in a 2-1 win against the visiting New Jersey Devils on Friday.
Ryan Leonard and Aliaksei Protas scored for the Capitals (35-27-8, 78 points), who are 3-0-1 in their past four games.
Jesper Bratt scored and Jake Allen made 26 saves for the Devils (35-32-2, 72 points), who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
New Jersey controlled play early, but Washington started to find its game as the period progressed. The Capitals enjoyed their longest stretch of offensive zone time midway through the frame, leading to the opening tally from Leonard at 9:36.
Brandon Duhaime intercepted the Devils’ clearing attempt along the left wall and pushed it to Trevor van Riemsdyk at the near point. The defenseman dished it back to Duhaime at the top of the slot for a shot that was blocked by defenseman Brenden Dillon. Leonard, fresh off the bench, caught the rebound above the right circle and snapped it under Allen’s left arm to give Washington a 1-0 lead.
The hosts had a pair of chances to double their advantage early in the second period. Just over two minutes in, Protas’ shot from low in the right circle got behind Allen but stopped right on the goal line. Two minutes later, the Devils goalie got over to deny Alex Ovechkin on a quick rebound on a rush attempt.
The visitors came within inches of pulling even when Dougie Hamilton’s shot from the middle of the blue line clanked off the crossbar on the power play late in the second frame.
Thompson was sharp as New Jersey continued to push for the equalizer in the third, denying Mercer with the left pad just over six minutes into the period.
Protas scored an empty-net goal at 18:17 to make it 2-0.
Bratt beat Thompson over his right shoulder from the bottom of the right circle at 19:17 for the 2-1 final.
–Field Level Media
