Caps Close Out Season with 5-4 OT Loss

On Thursday night at Capital One Arena, the Caps closed the door and turned out the lights on the 2022-23 regular season against the New Jersey Devils. Broadly speaking, the game went as the season did. There were some early wobbles, then the Caps got themselves right and put themselves in position to have success by the midpoint.

Alas, the second half didn't go nearly as well as the first, and the results weren't as Washington would have hoped. After owning leads of 3-0 and 4-1, the Caps fell 5-4 in overtime.
Playing in his second career NHL game, 19-year-old Devils defenseman Luke Hughes scored the game-winner for New Jersey with 26.4 seconds remaining in overtime, completing a late comeback for the visitors, who entered the third period down by a couple of goals. The goal was the first of Hughes' NHL career, and brother Jack picked up the primary helper on the game-winner.
"Obviously, your first goal, you never forget it," says Hughes. "So it was awesome to be out there. And with Jackie assisting, it was pretty cool."
It's the 14th time in League history - including playoffs and regular season - that a player had a hand in his brother's first NHL goal, and the first in over two decades, since Henrik Sedin assisted on brother Daniel's first NHL marker on Oct. 8, 2000.
"I'll be honest, it's hard to process anything right now, just because we just left the game where you've got a really lousy taste in your mouth," says Caps' coach Peter Laviolette. "When you're up a couple of times with three-goal leads, and you're not able to close that off, it's frustrating for everybody. I'm sure there will be time to digest everything, but right now the night leaves a lousy feeling."
For the second time in as many home games, the Caps roared out to a 3-0 first-period lead on Thursday against the Devils, and they did so after Darcy Kuemper made a breakaway-denying save on New Jersey's Dawson Mercer just half a minute into the contest.
Joe Snively started the scoring, firing a shot past New Jersey netminder Mackenzie Blackwood from the right circle to stake the Caps to a 1-0 lead at 4:36 of the first frame.
Washington doubled its lead less than two minutes later. Nicklas Backstrom made a good defensive play at the Washington line to quell a New Jersey rush and get the Caps moving north in transition. Following a long-distance exchange with linemate Alex Ovechkin, Backstrom put a blind backhand dish to the slot and Rasmus Sandin finished it at 5:59 to make it a 2-0 game.
Just past the midpoint of the opening period, Devils' pivot Jack Hughes threw a puck away from the half wall in his own end, putting it right on Craig Smith's tape in the slot. The veteran Washington winger knew exactly what to do with it, throwing it into the far corner of the cage at 10:18 to make it 3-0.
The goal was the 200th of Smith's NHL career, and his fifth since joining the Capitals in a Feb. 23 trade with Boston.
Late in the period, New Jersey's Erik Haula got his team on the board with a shot from the left circle at 17:06. The Haula goal was noteworthy as rookie Devils' defenseman Luke Hughes - playing in his second NHL game - notched his first NHL point on the tally, picking up the secondary assist.
Early in the second, the Caps restored their three-goal cushion when Tom Wilson extended his goal streak to four straight games, converting a Nick Jensen feed from just above the paint at 1:05 of the second. The Wilson goal chased Blackwood to the bench; he yielded the crease to backup Akira Schmid after being dented for four goals on 11 shots in 21:05 worth of work on the evening.
With less than two minutes remaining in the second, the Devils scored a big goal on their first power play of the night. Miles Wood tipped home a Tomas Tatar drive from the point to shorten the hill the Devils would need to climb in the third.
Early in the third, Haula got loose on a breakaway. John Carlson hooked him from behind, and the Devils were about to go on the power play again, but Haula went ahead and scored at 3:17, making it a moot point and a 4-3 game.
The Devils kept the heat on, and with 7:37 left they pulled even on a Dougie Hamilton drive from center point.
Washington has been a bit overwhelmed in the third periods of its last few games, and Thursday was no exception. New Jersey owned a lopsided 31-11 advantage in third period shot attempts, and the entire frame was played at 5-on-5.
"There's times where I felt like we didn't push enough in those areas," says Laviolette, addressing recent third period performances. "And I guess tonight probably falls into that category, as well as the game pushed on."
Both sides had their chances in overtime, and the Devils had a brief power play before taking a late penalty of their own seconds later to put the manpower back at 3-on-3.
With about half a minute left in the extra session, Luke Hughes wound up from his own line and carried into Washington ice. Cutting to the middle, he squeezed off a shot off from the slot. Kuemper made the save, but the teenaged blueliner collected the rebound, carried around back of the cage and wrapped it around the other side for a 5-4 New jersey victory.
With the win, the Devils established franchise records for wins (52) and points (112).
"All great accomplishments, obviously," says Devils' coach Lindy Ruff. "And given the fact that we had to fight back tonight and get the win in overtime kind of summed up the season. We played a really poor first period, and then we were able to rebound and fight our way back."
While the Devils move on to take on the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Caps will be watching the playoffs from home for the first time in nine years, a feeling that's foreign to most of them.
"I hate it," says Wilson. "It's not fun. You want to be playing in the playoffs. That's why you play the game, it's why you play every year. We just didn't get there this year and it's good motivation to take into the offseason and into next year."