Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals defeated the New Jersey Devils by a score of 6-3 at Prudential Center to kick off their four-game road trip on Monday night. The victory improved the Capitals’ record to 4-3-0 this season.

Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 37 saves in the win, his first with Washington. Former Capitals netminder Vitek Vanecek was the back-up for New Jersey and made three saves on four shots in relief during the third period.

Capitals’ Lines at New Jersey

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Marcus Johansson — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas — Lars Eller — Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

Dmitry Orlov — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: C Connor McMichael, LW Joe Snively, LHD Matt Irwin

Injured: LW Carl Hagelin (hip, missed seventh straight game, out indefinitely); RW Tom Wilson (ACL, seventh, indefinite); C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, seventh, indefinite); RW Connor Brown (lower-body, third, indefinite)

The Capitals flipped their top two centers and left-handed defensemen after their 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. They also let left-wing Beck Malenstyn come in.

First Period

Scoring

4:49, 1-0 NJ: Right-wing Nathan Bastian tapped in a rebound off the post from the goal crease into an open net after deflecting defenseman John Marino’s feed from the dot.

big bass in the net. pic.twitter.com/XXq9PyGf73

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 24, 2022

10:46, 1-1: Dowd one-timed a shot past the right pad of Blackwood after Malenstyn fed him from behind the net for his third goal of the season. The 32-year-old has scored the team’s first goal in three out of Washington’s seven games this season.

Bang bang SCOARRRRR pic.twitter.com/MorB8q54La

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 24, 2022

Shots: 13-6 New Jersey

Other notable stats: New Jersey led 5-1 in blocked shots and had one giveaway while the Capitals had four. Washington led 15-7 in hits and won 61% of the draws. Each team did not score on their first power play.

Second Period

Scoring

9:16, 2-1 WSH: Hathaway picked a loose puck up off of the board, skated into the left circle, and whipped one to the top corner on Blackwood. Jensen tallied the primary assist (third of his four helpers this season have been primary). 10 of the 30-year-old’s 16 career multi-point efforts have come in Washington.

Assist ☑️
Goal ☑️

Hathin’ a night! pic.twitter.com/ynsf8gg0bd

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2022

10:03, 3-1 WSH (SHG): Sheary, who scored his first career shorthanded goal, stole an open pass at the top of the offensive zone, skated in, and went high blocker on Blackwood.

🎶Shawty’s like a melody in my head🎶 pic.twitter.com/fSSb7K7ki6

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2022

17:14, 4-1 WSH (PPG): Ovechkin blasted a one-timer past the blocker of Blackwood from the left dot after Carlson passed the puck to him from the top. Strome got credit for the secondary assist, his team-leading fourth power-play point. The goal stood as the game winner and marked Ovechkin’s 122nd career game-winning goal, moving him past Gordie Howe for the second-most game-winning goals in NHL history. Ovechkin only trails Jaromir Jagr (135) for the most GWGs in NHL history.

Never a doubt pic.twitter.com/3lLzZHwLHN

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2022

17:47, 5-1 WSH: Jensen stepped in and wristed one past the blocker of Blackwood after Protas threw a pass back to the left point to Orlov, who fed Jensen to the other. Ovechkin’s and Jensen’s goals 33 seconds apart in the second period marked Washington’s fastest two goals in a game since February 17, 2022 (5-3 win at PHI) when Hathaway and Carlson scored twice in the span of 23 seconds.

The Jensman wanted in on the scoring action pic.twitter.com/FDDeRKWw6U

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2022

Shots: 27-18 New Jersey (including 14-11 in the second)

Other notable stats: Washington led 23-11 in hits and won 57% of the faceoffs. Each team earned three power plays through 40 minutes.

The Capitals scored four goals in the second period, marking the third time this season Washington has scored four goals in a single period (third period in 6-4 win over Vancouver Canucks on 10/17, third period in 4-3 win over Los Angeles on Saturday).

Third Period

Blackwood did not start the third period after giving up five goals on 18 shots-against.

Scoring

4:08, 5-2 WSH: While falling and colliding with Fehervary, right-wing Tomas Tatar scored on one knee after the puck went off of Lindgren and right to him in front.

tuna puts it home. pic.twitter.com/uyuEdqxoCJ

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 25, 2022

9:06, 5-3 WSH: After getting a stretch pass from Marino in the defensive zone, Bratt zipped in on a breakaway, faught Van Riemsdyk off of his back, and deked Lindgren to put the puck into an empty net.

clawing our way bratt pic.twitter.com/GP1w9Kuc6k

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 25, 2022

16:11, 6-3 WSH: After Mantha fed Protas cross-ice, Protas got in close on Vanecek, deked, and put the puck into an open net in the crease to pad the lead. With an assist earlier, the 21-year-old tallied his second career multi-point game.

All of this 🤩 pic.twitter.com/agt23yvxD7

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2022

Shots: 40-22 New Jersey (including 13-4 in the third)

Other notable stats: Washington led 30-13 in hits and scored once on three power plays. New Jersey was held scoreless on four opportunities with the extra man.

GOOD LUCK CHUCK pic.twitter.com/HW8KOpmF6a

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2022

Next game: Thursday at Dallas Stars (8:30 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown