Jakob Chychrun’s goal in the final minute of overtime enabled the Capitals to leave New Jersey with a pair of points in a seesaw Saturday night affair with the division rival Devils. Chychrun’s game-winner completed a late Caps comeback in a 4-3 victory, after New Jersey had wrested the lead from Washington with a pair of quick strike goals in the third period.
After the Caps combined for a defensive zone stop with a tired trio of skaters on the ice late in overtime, Chychrun took a feed from Nic Dowd and galloped down the right side of the ice with as much steam as he could muster. From the inside of the left circle, he fired a wrist shot that New Jersey netminder Jake Allen stopped but bobbled and did not secure. Chychrun expertly batted the rebound into the net to give the Caps their first win beyond the 60th minute since Oct. 14. That's when Chychrun scored the game-winner to topple Tampa Bay in the District, in Washington's only other win beyond 60 this season.
Washington had dropped each of its last five games that went into overtime, losing four in the shootout and one in the extra session.
“Well, we got caught out there both my shifts [in overtime],” recounts Chychrun. “And just a good job, all the boys hanging in there and trying to come up with a loose puck. And then Dowder did a great job not changing and leaving me on an island; I think we were all a little tired. So big credit to him for sticking in there and giving me an out.
“And I just saw an opportunity to go. I was obviously tired, but I was just trying to get an opportunity there, and to be able to find it and make it go in. So, I’ll take it.”
So will the Caps, who entered the game with just one win in their last seven games (1-4-2) overall.
New Jersey notched the game’s first eight shots, and Logan Thompson needed to be good early, and he was stellar all night. His best save of the frame was likely a stop on Tanner Glass from in tight, just past the midpoint of the first.
A little over a minute later, Dylan Strome bagged a rebound of an Aliaksei Protas shot, but the Devils issued a successful coach’s challenge; Strome was in just ahead of the puck, nullifying the goal.
Neither team had a power play in the first, but there was a stretch of 4-on-4 hockey that went into the final minute of the opening period, and the Caps were able to scratch out a goal at virtually the latest possible moment, taking a 1-0 lead to the room after 20 minutes of play.
Rasmus Sandin dumped it into New Jersey ice with less than seven seconds remaining, and ex-Cap Jonas Siegenthaler got to it first. He backhanded it around to the left side, but Alex Ovechkin grabbed it, and he whirled and fired it toward the net in one motion. Protas was parked at the back door, and he chipped it under the bar with four-tenths of a second left.
“I saw there was basically like five seconds left or whatever, and just tried to put the puck in,” says Ovechkin. “And you know, luck. We’ll take it.”
New Jersey again came out hot in the second. The Devils had the Caps hemmed and on their heels in their own end, and the pressure resulted in a pair of Brandon Duhaime hooking penalties less than three minutes apart.
Ten seconds into the first of those New Jersey man advantages, the Devils worked the puck to Jesper Bratt on the weak side, and he scored to square the score at 1-1 at 4:56 of the middle period. The Caps killed off the second penalty without incident.
Washington weathered the Devils’ storm, and then it failed to regain the lead on its first power play of the evening. The last few minutes were characterized by a lot of puck fumbling, juggling, dribbling and bouncing on both sides, as no one seemed to be able to corral the disc.
Thompson made one of his best stops of the game in the second, laying out to thwart Bratt’s semi-breakaway bid by swinging his pads – both of which were flat on the ice – at the shot.
“He had some looks tonight,” says Thompson of Bratt. “And obviously I’m just doing whatever I can to help the guys, keep the team in it, and give them a spark.”
With less than three minutes remaining, the Caps regained the lead. They were trying to settle the puck and make a play when Jack Hughes briefly got a stick on it in the high slot. But Protas quickly whacked it away from him, and Anthony Beauvillier collected it, suddenly giving the Caps a 3-on-0 below the hash marks – Beauvillier flanked by Protas and Matt Roy. Given the likelihood of a misplay or a goofy bounce, Beauvillier wisely called his own number and tucked it for a 2-1 Washington lead at 17:33.
Things went south for the Caps several minutes into the third. Bratt fired a wild shot from the left point that found purchase at the seven-minute mark of the frame. When Glass converted a Connor Brown feed at the back door just 32 seconds later, the Devils had their first lead of the night, and all the momentum.
Protas was making something happen every time he touched the ice on Saturday, and just before the midpoint of the period, he hopped over the boards and made something good happen.
Protas’ shot missed the net, but he went after and retrieved it from behind the New Jersey net, then began patiently looking for options. He fed Sandin at center point, and Sandin threaded a perfect feed to Ovechkin down low on the left of the goal. The captain shelved a shot from there, tying the game at 3-3 at 9:17, and setting the stage for Chychrun’s overtime heroics.
“I thought that was just a display of the Caps resiliency, of what our group has stood for over the last few years,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “It was not pretty. It was downright ugly at times in that game, where they had us on our heels, but we kept fighting. We grabbed some momentum for good portions of that game, so we punched back, grabbed the lead, and then obviously it slips in the third period.
“But then I thought after that, we go down, and I thought we carried the next – whatever it was – 10 minutes of play. And we even had opportunities to win that game in regulation for those last – whatever it was – seven or eight minutes, even after we got the equalizer.
“So really difficult circumstances, traveling and playing this game. This is not an easy game to play, especially on the road. And I’m so proud of the guys for digging in and in overtime, too. We've struggled in overtime. We haven't found a way to win one of these games, so it was nice for Chychy. He steps up, makes a huge play for us, goes end to end, just another display of his unique ability to skate, even though he's at the end of a shift. He’s been out there for a minute plus, and still finds a way to use his explosiveness, power and speed to get to the net. It’s a huge play for our group.”
