The Capitals fell behind early on Saturday night, then took over. Washington scored four straight goals and held on to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 at Capital One Arena.
The win moves the Caps to 5-3-0. New Jersey drops to 4-4-0.
Four in a Row
Arseny Gritsyuk gave the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Ryan Leonard answered on the power play to tie it before intermission.
The second period belonged to Washington. Ilya Protas put the Caps in front 2-1 with Alex Ovechkin picking up an assist. Dylan Strome followed with his first goal of the season, and Boone Jenner made it 4-1 before the period was over.
Timo Meier scored a power play goal for New Jersey with 19 seconds left, but it was far too late to matter.
Jenner Keeps Producing
Jenner has been exactly what Washington hoped for. He now has four goals in his last five games and four in eight games as a Capital. For context, he scored 13 in 67 games with Columbus last season.
Vincent Desharnais chipped in two assists.
Thompson Shuts the Door
Logan Thompson made 29 saves, and he earned them late. New Jersey outshot Washington 17-5 in the third period, and Thompson stopped 16 of those 17. Jake Allen made 21 saves for the Devils.
Ovechkin Closing In
The assist on Protas’s goal was the 761st of Ovechkin’s career. That leaves him one shy of tying Nicklas Backstrom’s Capitals record for career assists. It was also the 347th comeback win of Ovechkin’s career, which ties Joe Thornton for second in NHL history.
Home ice continues to be good to the Caps. Washington is 15-2-2 in its last 19 games at Capital One Arena, dating back to January 31.
Keep it locked to Fox Sports 1340 AM and 96.9 FM as Ovechkin chases the franchise assist record.
