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Capitals Rally To Down The Devils, 6-4; Hunter Shepard Wins In NHL Debut, Dylan Strome Scores Twice

By Jon Sorensen·

Wednesday’s nationally televised contest between the Washington Capitals and the New Jersey Devils showed that hockey is a game of momentum, and it can flip in an instant. The Capitals had a 3-0 lead after the first period. 

It was the first time they had a lead all season and the first time they scored three goals in a game. Then the wheels fell off the wagon and the Devils stormed back with four unanswered goals in the second period. 

As if the game didn’t get more bananas, Washington stormed back in the third to tie the game and then took the lead shortly after. 

The Capitals took the back-and-forth contest 6-4 for their second win of the season and Hunter Shepard collected his first career NHL win. 

PERIOD 1

It was a slow start to the game for both teams, but the Capitals had the majority of possession time. 

Then, six minutes into the period, the Caps got their first lead of the season from the most unlikely of heroes. Aliaksei Protas kept the puck in the zone and Anthony Mantha corralled it and went five-hole on Devils goaltender Akira Schmid.

The Caps continued to push and extended the lead thanks to Dylan Strome’s third goal of the season. Alex Ovechkin had the primary assist, which marked his fourth point in his last three contests. Tom Wilson had the secondary helper which marked his third assist of the campaign.

Washington continued to get into the middle of the ice and execution was on point. Sonny Milano gave the Caps a three goal cushion with 2:32 left in the first.. Evgeny Kuznetsov found T.J. Oshie on the near red line and Oshie found a streaking Milano and he made no mistake snapping the puck over Schmid’s glove hand.

The Capitals outshot the Devils 8-2 in the first 20 minutes. 

PERIOD 2

Vitek Vanecek came in relief for Schmid. 

Washington could not carry its momentum from the first into the second. The Caps completely imploded in the second period and their three goal cushion was erased in a flash. 

Tyler Toffoli got the scoring party started as the Caps were struggling to get the puck out of the zone. Shepard, and the rest of Washington’s defense, was scrambling and Toffoli potted home the loose change to get the Devils on the board.

A minute later, Timo Meier had a layup thanks to a gorgeous cross-ice pass from Jack Hughes to cut the deficit to one.

The Devils continued to put Washington on its heels and tied the game thanks to Nico Hischier stuffing home a loose puck.

Toffoli gave New Jersey a 4-3 lead with his second of the game and the Caps could not get anything going offensively after that goal. 

PERIOD 3

The Capitals tied the game 18 seconds into the third period and 33 seconds into the power play. Kuznetsov picked the puck up and found Strome cutting to the goal for his second of the contest.

Washington kept the pressure up and Mantha and Connor McMichael found themselves on a two-on-one. Mantha fed a perfect saucer pass over to McMichael, who went forehand, backhand beating Vanecek. It was Mantha’s second point of the game and McMichael’s second goal of the season.

The Caps outshot the Devils 9-1 through the first 10 minutes of the final frame. Rasmus Sandin left the game with about five minutes left in regulation after taking a hit back in the second period.

Ovechkin sealed the deal with an empty net goal to make it 6-4.

By Jacob Cheris