N.J. Devils: Look What The Washington Capitals Did To Newark, Again

From the desk: THE BRICK CITY STYX

Capitals lead Devils; 3-0

I - WAS; 4; NJD 3

II - WAS 5; NJD 2

III - WAS 3; NJD 2

Newark Suffers Puck Luck Two Nights In A Row

The Devils are simultaneously rebuilding and falling apart before our eyes.  Since returning from their own COVID in-team pandemic, they've lost five of their last eight.  On Sunday, Nico Hischier sustained a puck to the face Saturday.  Then late in the third period against Washington on Sunday, Miles Wood exited the ice after taking a puck to the head on an attempted clear by Zdeno Chara.

From Sunday to Sunday, this marks the Devils' third loss against Washington in the last week in which they've been outscored by a 12-7 margin.  

With Nico Hischier out, the Devils were outdone on the faceoff by a 37-18 margin.

After trading goals in the first, then trading another pair of goals very early in the second period, Alex Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal at 13:37 of the second.  Newark put themselves in a position to knot the game in the closing seconds; Pavel Zacha's shot was stopped by Ilya Samsonov, but Kyle Palmieri failed to put home a loose puck in front and game over.

New Jersey's scoring came courtesy of their rookies.  Winger Mikhail Maltsev netted his second of the season on a wrister from the right circle at 6:45 of the opening period.  Just 0:48 seconds after Nicklas Backstrom gave the Capas a 2-1 lead in the second, Yegor Sharangovich came barreling down the middle to score his third goal of the season, tying the game at two.