Devils Crush Capitals 5-1

Posted on January 11, 2020 by

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals fell to the New Jersey Devils 5-1 Saturday evening at Capital One Arena. The loss drops the Capitals record to 30-12-5 (65 points) on the season.

Nico Hischier would get the Devils on the scoreboard first with a tally 5:27 into the contest for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. The Devils would add three goals in the middle frame with the Capitals getting their lone tally from Jakub Vrana for a 4-1 Devils lead at the second break. The Devils would add another goal in the final frame for the 5-1 win.

GAME STATS

STARTERS
Braden Holtby (18-8-0-4, 2.99 GAA, .901 sv%) started between the pipes for Washington. Louis Domingue (5-1-4-0, 3.99 GAA, .867 sv%) got the start in goal for visiting New Jersey. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Scratches: Travis Boyd. Christian Djoos was re-assigned to AHL Hershey earlier in the day on Saturday.

FIRST PERIOD
The Devils would open the scoring with a goal from Nico Hischier at 5:27 of the first frame.

The first period would end with the Devils leading 1-0. The Capitals led in shots on goal 12-10, but trailed in shot attempts 19-14 for the first frame. Washington was 0 for 1 and the Devils 0 for 0 on the power play in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD
The Devils would stretch their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Nikita Gusev at 3:28 of the second period.

The Devils would stretch their lead to 3-0 with a short-handed goal from Blake Coleman at 6:48 of the middle frame.

The Capitals would answer this time. Jakub Vrana (20) with pot the Capitals first goal, a power play tally at 8:28 of the second period, making it 3-1 Devils. John Carlson (42) and Nicklas Backstrom (26) had the helpers.

But the Devils would also answer. Nico Hischier would score his second goal of the night at 12:11 of the second period to make it 4-1 Devils.

The second period would conclude with the Capitals trailing 4-1. Shots on goal were 9-9 for the frame, with the Capitals leading 21-17 after two periods. The Devils led in shots attempts 14-13 for the periods, and 31-28 for the first two frames.

THIRD PERIOD

The Capitals would be unable to dent the twine in the final frame, and the Devils would get another tally, this time from Miles would for the 5-1 win.

The Capitals next host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for just after 7:00 pm.

SHAVINGS

  • The Devils first win in Washington since December, 2016.

SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His passion for the Caps has grown over the decades, which has included time as a season ticket holder, social media and community organizer, and most recently led to the founding of NoVa Caps in 2014. Jon earned a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering at Old Dominion University, and is a Systems Engineer during intermissions, which has been instrumental in supporting his Capitals habit.
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8 Responses to Devils Crush Capitals 5-1

  1. Day One Caps Fan says:
    January 11, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    This is a catastrophe, Nova Caps Fans

    I made a bunch of comments in Ms. Della’s column below … But to summarize again:
    Future Hall of Famer Washington Capitals Head Coach Todd Reirden has lost, I say again, lost, the Caps’ locker room. It’s gone. Reirden is coach in name only. The team has tuned him out. They stink and are in free-fall, and will not improve with this man as their leader.

    They need another leader, mucho immediately. Brian MacLellan’s job description is to recognize this and act accordingly. It’s long overdue.

    Jon S! You and your outstanding team need to get right on this! Please tell GMBM to recognize reality and bring us a real NHL Coach! Before he fritters away the rest of the season and the Caps drop out of the playoff race!

    Reply
  2. Diane Doyle says:
    January 11, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    Horrible game. Maybe Holtby needs a few days off from the #1 goalie job. Use Sam for the next few. Granted, not all the goals were Holtby’s fault. But is he having trouble tracking the puck?

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says:
    January 11, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    Reirden’s system is definitely not working against the Metro….

    Reply

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  5. Day One Caps Fan says:
    January 12, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    When fans need to ask the question, “Has our team reached rock-bottom yet?” that means that either the Coach or GM should have already been replaced

    Future Hall of Fame Coach T. Reirden is LONG overdue to be replaced, preferably with a real NHL coach.

    Enjoy the free-fall, NovaCapsFans! Miss-the-Playoffs, here we come!

    Reply

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