Devils Down Capitals 4-1 in First Preseason Tilt

The Washington Capitals fell to the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Monday night at the Prudential Center in Trenton, New Jersey. The Capitals return to preseason action Wednesday night when they visit the Candiens at the Belle Centre in Montreal. Puck drop is 7PM.

Braden Holtby got the start in net for the Capitals. Keith Kinkaid got the nod for the Devils. Both goalies were replaced midway through the second period.

FIRST PERIOD
A sloppy start to the festivities, with three penalties called in the first 1:20 of the game and another violation at the 2:39 mark, giving the Devils an early 5-on-3 advantage. However it would be the Capitals who would notch the first tally of the game on a short-handed goal by Nathan Walker at the 4:26 mark. Walker would gather a loose puck from Lars Eller in front of the net and drive it home for the 1-0 lead.

Meet Nathan Walker. He’s from Australia. And he’s really good at hockey. #ALLCAPS #CapsDevils pic.twitter.com/bwMRapLZZp

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 18, 2017

The call from John Walton:

The period would conclude with no further scoring. The Capitals led in shots on goal 12-10 for the opening frame. There was a total of 22 minutes of penalty time for the first period.

SECOND PERIOD
The Devils would levy the equalizer just 1:39 into the middle frame on a blast off the draw from the left circle by Mirco Mueller.

Mueller….Mueller….Mueller! 🚀#WSHvsNJD pic.twitter.com/DRRg8liKrf

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) September 19, 2017

Both goalies would be replaced at the half-way point. The Capitals would replace Braden Holtby (faced 19 shots) with Vitek Vanecek at the 9:50 mark of the middle frame.

The Devils would grab the lead on the end of a 2-on-1 breakaway with Stefan Noesen beating Vanecek over the left shoulder at the 11:33 mark of the second period.

The Devils would make it 3-1 on a break away goal by Kyle Palmieri at 19:38 of the middle frame.

2️⃣1️⃣ seconds remaining in the period? That’s no problem for our #️⃣2️⃣1️⃣!#WSHvsNJD pic.twitter.com/PB35RWeDCd

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) September 19, 2017

The Devils outshot the Caps 17-7 for the second period and led in shots on goal 28-19 through two periods of play. The Capitals were 0-2 and the Devils were 0-8 in power plays through two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD
A rather uneventful third period. The Capitals had a 5-on-3 man advantage at the 12-minute mark but would be unable capitalize. The Devils number one draft pick Nico Hischier would stretch the Devils lead to 4-1 after stealing the puck from Kevin Elgestal in the Caps defensive zone and beating Vanecek glove-side at the 15:46 mark of the final frame.

Example #️⃣1️⃣ of why we selected @nicohischier with the #️⃣1️⃣ pick in the #NHLDraft. pic.twitter.com/rxHSF7z6aQ

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) September 19, 2017

And that would be the final.

PROSPECT STANDOUTS

Nathan Walker – excellent game speed and physicality. He was all over the ice and scored the game’s first goal. Walker had a goal, two shots, a takeaway and won a faceoff in the first period alone.
Aaron Ness – solid play, quick defensive zone exits and speed through the neutral zone. Good ice and player awareness through three periods. Certainly not enough to win a roster spot, but was the bright spot on the back-end for the Capitals in this game.

NHL game recap here: