*Photo from TSN*
This was a classic back and forth offensive shootout. Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists, Dylan Strome scored twice, and the Washington Capitals defeated the New Jersey Devils with a 6-4 victory on Wednesday night in Newark.
It was a game of momentum shifts. The first period was 3-0 Washington before the Devils scored 4 straight goals in the second period. The Capitals then answered back with 3 goals of their own. Strome, Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin, and Anthony Mantha all had two point games for Washington.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said that "Our power play stepped up right out of the gate to sort of set the tone for the third period, and then I thought for the first half of the third we were on it. Then we did enough good things in the final 10 minutes to hang on. We made smart decisions, smart reads, and smart puck plays to keep everything to the perimeter."
Mantha started the scoring 6:37 into the game, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead on his first goal of the season. At the 15:52 mark of the period, Strome doubled the lead to 2-0 with assists from Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Sonny Milano made it a 3-0 game after one with his first goal of the season, assisted by Kuznetsov and TJ Oshie.
Tyler Toffoli got the Devils on the board 4:31 into the second period, making it a 3-1 game. Timo Meier scored his first goal of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2. Nico Hischier scored his second goal of the season to tie the game 3-3 before Toffoli scored again at the 10:01 mark of the period, giving the Devils a 4-3 lead.
Strome scored just 18 seconds into the 3rd period for the Capitals, with his power play goal tying the game 4-4. At the 2:09 mark of the period, Connor McMichael scored his second goal of the season, giving the Capitals a 5-4 lead. With 1:35 left on the clock and the net empty, Ovechkin scored to make it a 6-4 game.
Getting the start in between the pipes for the Capitals was Hunter Shepard, who made his NHL debut. Shepard got the win in his first start, stopping 18 of the 22 shots he was tested with by the Devils, good for a .818 save percentage.
Shepard reflected on his first NHL win after the game, saying that "I don't think it's really sunk in yet. I'm excited to get out there and see my parents because it's been a pretty emotional day. To have 13 or 14 people make it here on a day's notice from Minnesota, it's quite the support system."
Drawing the start for the Devils was Akira Schmid, who didn't quite have it. Schmid made 5 saves on 8 shots by the Capitals before he was pulled. Vitek Vanecek came in and got credited with the loss, turning aside 14 out of the 16 shots on goal that the Capitals had, giving him a .875 save percentage in the loss. His record is 2-2-0.
Both teams get back in action on Friday night. The Capitals host the Minnesota Wild, with Darcy Kuemper the projected starter. The Devils welcome the Buffalo Sabres to town, with Vanecek expected to get the start.
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