To Beat The Devil(s) – It’s still quite early in the 2026-27 NHL season. The Caps have played just 16 games to date, a shade less than 20 percent of their full season of games. But tonight in Newark, Washington will finish up a two-game road trip and will also start a home-and-home set of games with the New Jersey Devils, a Metropolitan Division rival. The Caps and Devils meet again on Saturday night in the District.
With the Devils (.684 points pct.) running a distant second to Carolina (.789) in the Metropolitan Division standings, and the Caps third (.625), this set of games with the Devils represents a chance for the Caps to leapfrog New Jersey in the Metro standings.
Washington and New Jersey will meet just once more this season after this weekend; the Caps visit Newark on Jan. 24 to close out the season series
Last month in Washington, the Caps won the first of the four games to be played between the two division rivals this season, skating to a 4-2 win over the Devils on Oct. 17. That loss left the Devils with a pedestrian 4-4-0 mark on the season.
But within a week, the Devils engineered a deal with Winnipeg to obtain three-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. And since the first meeting of the season between the Caps and Devils, New Jersey has gone on a heater, winning nine of 11 games (9-2-0). The Devils saw their five-game winning streak halted on Tuesday night in Winnipeg, however, a game in which they opted not to start Hellebuyck against his former team.
The Caps finished October with a modest three-game winning streak before dropping their first two November contests. They enter tonight’s game with consecutive victories, and they are looking to notch a second three-game winning run tonight in Newark. But it won’t be easy against a New Jersey team that’s on a spree.
“So, the goalie is the goalie,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “You get arguably the best goaltender in the world; that's going to give your group a shot in the arm, and his performance and play – he is 5-0 – is as good as there is at that position. But what I do find they're doing when you look at the film and dive into the numbers, other than two games in that 11, they've defended at a really high level, and that was interesting. There are some really low event games in there, which, for their speed, transition, ability to create one-on-one, that was interesting.
“So, it's telling you that they're really committed to playing the right way and making sure that they're above pucks and making sure that they're really doing a good job with their puck management. And so, that it's going to be more difficult than maybe you think to create against this team right now. They're playing really, really good without the puck.”
Back End – Despite being tied for the fewest games played in 2026-27 to this point, the Caps have had a dozen goals from their back end in the first 16 games of the season, tied for fourth-most in the NHL.
Although the Caps’ defense corps ranks 13th in the NHL in total points with 40 (12 goals, 28 assists) to this point of the season, Washington’s blueline brigade ranks ninth in the circuit with an average of 2.5 points per game. And of late, that figure has exceeded three points per game. Across their last 10 games – a stretch in which they have fashioned a 7-3-0 record – the Caps have amassed 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) for a rate of 3.1 points per game.
Over the entirety of the season to date, Colorado leads the NHL with an average of 3.42 points per game from its defensemen, and the Avalanche is the only NHL team averaging better than three points per game over the season to date.
“I think it's been critical, especially as we've dried up a little bit offensively with our forward group; a few lines are a little bit snake bitten. So, we toyed around with some different combinations [Tuesday] night.
“It's been huge because at the end of the day, we've got to find ways to score at five-on-five, and our defensemen being able to contribute and help us with that, as you know, we're looking for a little bit of scoring from all four of our lines, which we feel like we're capable of doing. It has been huge to give us an opportunity to win games and put goals on the board that inevitably help us get two points.”
Tuesday’s win in Ottawa was a prime example. Matt Roy scored the first goal in the first minute of the game, a goal that featured a primary helper from blueline partner Jakob Chychrun. Cole Hutson set up Pierre-Luc Dubois’ tying goal in the back half of the third period, and then Hutson delivered the game-winner in overtime for a four-point night from Washington’s back end.
Those contributions allowed the Caps to win for just the second time this season while scoring three or fewer goals; they’re now 2-5-0 in such contests.
In The Nets – Logan Thompson makes his fifth consecutive start for the Capitals tonight, and he will be seeking his eighth win of the season. Thompson is a goaltender who would fight to play his former team in both ends of a back-to-back if the opportunity ever presented itself; he has always been a gamer who wants to play as much as possible regardless of the opponent.
“I like playing more,” says Thompson. “I think at the end of the year last year when I played, it was 20 out of 24 games. I kept telling Carbs it's easy for a goalie to [play both ends of a back-to-back].
“Like the Pittsburgh game [on April 11]. You let three goals in on like 11 shots or whatever, but we ended up winning, 6-3 in [Pittsburgh], and then we come back here in a back-to-back, and then we win 3-0 or whatever it was. I think it's easy for me to keep playing, and I feel better when you're just going in the next night. There's no thinking, there's no dwelling on the last night.
“Okay, three goals on 11 shots or whatever. It's like you wash that, and then you're just right back to work tomorrow. So, I think for me, the more games I play, I find the easier it is for me to zone out the past or whatever happened and just focus on the next game.”
Lifetime against New Jersey, Thompson is 5-1-3 lifetime against the Devils – including a 29-save victory in DC last month – in nine appearances (all starts) with a 3.12 GAA and an .899 save pct.
After notoriously sitting out Tuesday’s tilt in Winnipeg against his former team, Hellebuyck is expected to be back in the crease for the Devils tonight. He has yet to taste defeat just joining the Devils; he is 5-0-0 in five starts with a shutout, a 1.96 GAA and a .913 save pct.
Lifetime against Washington, Hellebuyck is 8-5-2 in 15 appearances (all starts) with two shutouts, a 2.24 GAA and a .923 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and Devils might look on Thursday night in Newark:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
25-Kyrou, 17-Strome, 9-Leonard
21-A. Protas, 80-Dubois, 89-Tuch
22-Jenner, 34-Sourdif, 43-Wilson
8-Ovechkin, 62-I. Protas, 72-Beauvillier
Defense
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
42-Fehervary, 27-Liljegren
44-Hutson, 29-St. Ivany
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Injured/Out
38-Sandin (lower body)
73-Desharnais (appendectomy)
Healthy Extras
4-Holl
53-Frank
63-Miroshnichenko
NEW JERSEY
Forwards
81-Gritsyuk, 86-J. Hughes, 63-Bratt
28-Meier, 13-Hischier, 77-Evangelista
11-Noesen, 17-Rodrigues, 16-Brown
70-Boqvist, 12-Glass, 29-Hameenaho
Defense
43-L. Hughes, 22-Pesce
71-Siegenthaler, 7-Hamilton
47-Chisholm, 5-Dillon
Goaltenders
37-Hellebuyck
34-Allen
Injured/out
8-Kovacevic (undisclosed)
24-Casey (lower body)
39-Mantha (upper body)
Healthy Extras
93-Lombardi
