Devils Lose Early Lead, Fall in Overtime, 6-5, to Capitals Despite Two Comeback Efforts

The Devils struggled to overcome their mistakes, and ultimately made one too many.

First Period

Dawson Mercer nearly opened the scoring in the game just two minutes in, taking a pass from Dougie Hamilton and backhanding a shot off the post. The New Jersey Devils certainly would have liked to see those two connect to get them on the scoresheet, as Hamilton is still seeking his first point of the season. The Washington Capitals looked like they were trying to match the energy of the Devils early on, but New Jersey seemed a bit quicker to loose pucks, and the lanes they left to shoot on Jacob Markström were not very dangerous in the first few minutes.

Good fate found its way to the third line. With hard work coming off the wall from Stefan Noesen and Tomas Tatar, Erik Haula got the puck from Noesen and fired at a sharp angle on goal — and it beat Logan Thompson low! 1-0, Devils, less than five minutes into the game!

However, Tom Wilson would answer for the Washington Capitals, as Brenden Dillon couldn’t poke the puck away from the Capitals while Jack Hughes was taken down on the blueline. Wilson beat Markström to make it a 1-1 game.

Right after the Washington goal, Ondrej Palat worked a breakaway behind the Capitals defense after a puck went loose after the center ice faceoff. His shot was padded away by Thompson, and Nate Bastian could not get enough lift on the rebound to score. Curtis Lazar came crashing into the net, and play was blown dead as nearly every skater on the ice got embroiled in a scrum that took the net off its moorings.

Simon Nemec extended a Hischier line shift by being in the right place at the right time in the neutral zone to create a re-entry after the Capitals pushed the puck out, deferring to Johnny Kovacevic to whip the puck across the blueline. Nico Hischier had the puck but had trouble getting a handle on it, sliding it over for Nemec to shoot on a one-timer, but Thompson gloved it.

After Ondrej Palat failed to dump in a puck, backhanding it right to a Capital, the Devils had to defend a counterattack. Jakob Chychrun shot it on goal, and Curtis Lazar could not stop Connor McMichael from putting the rebound in. A bad series of play from the fourth line and third pairing. 2-1, Capitals.

After the top line diverted an attack from Alex Ovechkin’s line, Nico Hischier raced into the offensive zone with Meier on the other side. As the referee put his arm up for a penalty, Nico Hischier fought off a defender on his back to get a good shot on goal — but Meier could not bank the rebound. Still, the Devils went to the power play. Jakob Chychrun went off for roughing.

On the power play, Stefan Noesen deflected a Hamilton one-timer over the crossbar. Hamilton got another chance and shot it just wide. Jesper Bratt got a one-timer chance that was blocked, and Washington cleared after Nico Hischier had a shot in close which was stopped by the pads of Thompson. The second unit did not get much going, and the Capitals were able to kill the penalty.

With John Carlson possessing the puck after the Devils failed to get the puck out of the defensive zone on a draw, he shot for a deflection from the top of the faceoff circle. Alex Ovechkin got his stick on the puck, which deflected off Johnny Kovacevic and into the net. 3-1, Capitals.

With under three minutes to play, Erik Haula took a penalty for slashing the stick of Tom Wilson. The penalty kill had the puck out of the zone, but their attempt to keep possession nearly led to a chance the other way when they sent the puck into their own zone. Nico Hischier was able to dump it towards the other end, though, after the team got in the way of Washington’s puck movement. The Devils successfully kept the puck away from Washington for most of the remainder of the power play, and the period ended with the Devils down two.

Second Period

With Stefan Noesen and Tomas Tatar on Nico Hischier’s wings, the Devils pinned the Capitals behind their own net. Tatar got the puck out to Nico, who shot and scored! Nico Hischier made the game 3-2 in the first minute of the period!

And guess who scored just seconds later? None other than the captain, Nico Hischier, back with his usual linemates — as he went speeding into the zone, forcing a turnover below the goal line. Nico got the puck back and shot from a sharp angle over Thompson’s shoulder, just 11 seconds off the center-ice draw! 3-3, tie game!

A couple minutes after Jacob Markström made a few big saves on the Capitals to keep the game tied, Logan Thompson made a big save on Jesper Bratt, who came bearing down on goal. A minute later, Tomas Tatar ripped a shot on goal that was sent away. Timo Meier had a really bad turnover in front of the Devils’ net seven and a half minutes in, but Jonas Siegenthaler bailed him out with a great play. A shift later, Markström made a huge save on a rush play from Ovechkin.

After the Hughes line had some chances the other way, Andrew Mangiapane found a weak spot in the neutral zone coverage and got behind the Devils’ defense. He made a good move on net, pulling Markström enough to open up net to shoot at. 4-3, Capitals. The Devils were fortunate not to go down two goals, as John Carlson had a great chance around the high slot that just missed. With the Devils on the ropes, though, the Capitals eventually went up 5-3 when Dylan Strome deflected a shot from Trevor van Riemsdyk past Markström right after Jacob denied Alex Ovechkin on a frantic breakaway. Ondrej Palat was at his worst yet again on this play, and Hamilton should have had Strome tied up.

Dawson Mercer created a good chance towards the end of the period, as he shot it from far out, bouncing the puck off Martin Fehervary and giving Thompson a scare off the bouncing puck, which almost gave the Devils an opportunity on the other side of goal. The period ended with the Devils still down two.

Third Period

After Johnny Kovacevic was hit in the offensive zone, away from the puck, Stefan Noesen dropped the gloves with Brandon Duhaime. They went tumbling down to the ice and sat for five minutes. Simon Nemec found Jack Hughes cutting into the offensive zone a minute and a half later, and Hughes ripped the puck on goal, forcing Thompson to clamp his left arm down to save the shot.

Jacob Markström kept the Capitals lead where it was with a big slap shot coming from the point, off Dylan McIlrath’s stick, three minutes into the period. Markström reached back with his stick to deny the Capitals crashing into the crease, and the officials had to talk to the Capitals for quite awhile as they pleaded their case for a goal, not to sway the original call of a frozen puck by Markström.

On a rush by the Hischier line after Protas hit the post for Washington, Nico Hischier carried dthe puck off a backhand pass by Meier, who drew attention in the middle of the ice. With Thompson playing the shot, Nico opened it up with a sweet pass to Dawson Mercer, who got his second goal of the year to make it a 5-4 game! The Hischier line had another great shift past the seven-minute point of the period, with Nico being denied at the doorstep off a feed from Meier off the wall, which was followed up by a Mercer blast into Thompson’s chest.

The Capitals took another penalty when Jack Hughes was taken down on a rush with nine minutes to play. Rasmus Sandin went to the box as Jesper Bratt’s shot was saved by Logan Thompson. The Devils sent out Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, Noesen, and Hamilton for the power play, and Hishcier won the draw — but the Capitals got the puck out of the zone early. The Devils came back, with Noesen slowing play up off a dump-in by Hughes. After a chance at the side of the net, Dougie Hamilton shot it low off a feed from Hughes, but it was padded away. Dougie stayed on the ice for the second unit, and he got the puck from Bratt and one-timed it past Thompson to tie the game! 5-5, with 7:32 to play! And Dougie was finally on the board.

The officials called a high-stick on Curtis Lazar for clipping Nic Dowd after gathering to discuss a potential delay of game by Johnny Kovacevic, who batted a high puck from the glass over the boards. The Devils got the puck out twice early, and Nico Hischier took a hit to get it out a third time before they finally cleared it down the full length of the ice on their fourth touch. The Devils fought off the attack there, too, and got two more full-ice clears to kill the penalty. The best chance was a rush chance from Jakob Chychrun, which was stopped by Markström.

The Devils iced the puck with 14.3 seconds to play in the period. Nico Hischier won the draw in the defensive zone, sealing the point for the Devils and sending the game to overtime, as the Devils were able to push play into the other end for the horn at the end of regulation.

Overtime

Jacob Markström made a big glove save on Jakob Chychrun at the end of a long first shift in the first minute of overtime. The Devils caught a break when a bad pass allowed Hischier, Mercer, and Hamilton to change for Hughes, Bratt, and Siegenthaler. The Devils created a turnover, and Bratt had to wait for Siegenthaler to get out of the offensive zone. Bratt cut in, using Hughes as a decoy — but Thompson denied him. On the next shift, Thompson made an amazing save on Timo Meier, off a feed from Hughes. Markström had to make another big stop on John Carlson, who was stickhandling all alone by the net, giving the Devils a chance to win in the final two minutes.

Hischier, Bratt, and Siegenthaler went on for a defensive zone draw with 1:45 to play. The Devils lost the draw but forced play into the neutral zone, and the Capitals took the zone twice more before Tom Wilson beat Markström with a shot off the post and in — a 6-5 win for Washington.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

Nico Hischier vs. the Capitals

Much of tonight’s game felt like the Devils were just waiting to get Nico Hischier on the ice. He played 21:21, leading the forwards, as he was on the ice for four total goals by the Devils and zero by the Capitals. He looked good in different lines, spending some time with Tatar and Noesen as well as Hughes and Bratt for short spells during the game. Without Nico, this is probably something like a 5-0 shutout loss. I do really like how Meier and Mercer are playing with Nico, though. I think Sheldon Keefe has found a true first line there.

The Right Places for Palat and Cotter?

Paul Cotter has been great for the New Jersey Devils this season, earning promotions to the third and then second lines over the first few weeks of October. However, today, the Hughes line simply did not work with Cotter on the left wing, as they generated zero shot attempts and saw a goal against on four shots by Washington. Cotter was replaced on the line by Ondrej Palat during the game.

With Palat on the second line, that group worked to a 40.00 CF% and 38.23 xGF%. That might not seem like much, but they had a 0.00 in both categories with Cotter on the left side. Palat also might not seem like a great fit on that line, but the fourth line had been totally useless after his demotion, and he seems to be a better fit for more skilled linemates. For what it’s worth, the fourth line also went from a 28.57 CF% and 39.40 xGF% to a 71.43 CF% and 60.85 xGF% with Cotter in place of Palat. Nonetheless, all versions of these lines saw goals against.

Mistakes on Defense, Headscratchers Behind the Bench

With the defensive pairings struggling, Sheldon Keefe decided to shuffle the pairings during the game, with Nemec and Casey not playing at all together for much of the game. This led to a really bad goal against with Johnny Kovacevic on the left side, as he was unable to deter Andrew Mangiapane on his breakaway goal. The only player who didn’t get much ice time in the second period was Seamus Casey, who was on the ice for zero goals against, sporting a 96.81 xGF% in only 5:07 of five-on-five ice time through two frames. Casey also did not see a goal against in his limited third period ice time. The only other players without a goal against on the night were Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Dawson Mercer. Casey went a huge stretch of the game without even seeing a shift, during which time the defense imploded. He might not be a great option in the defensive zone, but the Devils struggled to move the puck in the second period, which ultimately gave them too big of a hill to climb.

7:34 of total ice time for Seamus Casey was simply a mistake in this game. The Devils looked great when he was on, but Sheldon Keefe could not figure out a way to get him out there. And why did they do this? They skated this morning with the pairings they had been playing with all season and Keefe decided not to use those pairings, except for the Dillon-Hamilton pair, which struggled yet again. I am a little baffled by why he would go into a game with new pairings that had not played or practiced together despite having a morning skate to try potential changes out.

Not too Down About It

The NHL plays a long season, and playoff teams need to get overtime loss points in today’s league. The New Jersey Devils hardly had any overtime points last year, so they were leapfrogged in the standings by teams that grinded out extra points. This game could have gone awry after going down 3-1, and it could have stayed out of reach when they went down 5-3. But the Devils fought back and kept up the pace in standings. Mistakes are forgivable when they don’t become a pattern, and they can take this game as something to work from in practice before their next game on Tuesday, at home against Tampa.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of tonight’s game? Did you think the Devils had a good effort? What did you think of Jacob Markström? What about Jack Hughes? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.