POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 4, Devils 3

With a Little Help From My Friends -Over the first dozen or so games this season, the Caps' lineup was in a state of flux. Aside from a handful of short-term injuries, the Capitals were without their four Russian players - Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Samsonov - because the quartet landed on the League's "unavailable due to COVID protocol" list.

Despite all that adversity combined with a shortened training camp, no preseason games and a new head coach in Peter Laviolette, the Caps managed a 6-0-3 start to the season, setting a franchise record for most consecutive games with a point at season's outset.
One of the primary reasons the Caps were able to get off to a strong start despite missing so many key pieces was the play of rookie goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who was suddenly and unexpectedly cast in the role of the team's No. 1 netminder when Samsonov was sidelined; offseason free agent acquisition Henrik Lundqvist had already stepped away from hockey for the season to undergo heart surgery.
Vanecek started seven of those first nine games, and he was in goal for 17 of Washington's first 20 games this season, playing well enough to give his team a chance to collect points each and every game.
On Thursday night against the Devils, the Caps began paying Vanecek back for his early season heroics. The young netminder gave up an early gift of a goal when he misplayed a puck just above his crease, and he yielded a soft goal early in the second period as well. Both times, the Caps answered back quickly to tie the game. Orlov scored less than two minutes after Vanecek gave up the early goal in the first, and Ovechkin came up with the equalizer just 55 seconds after New Jersey had taken a 2-1 lead in the second.
During first intermission, Vanecek apologized to the team for his first-period gaffe, but his teammates picked him up, flipping a frequent script from early this season. Kuznetsov scored Washington's final two goals as the Caps authored a 4-3 win over the Devils, helping Vanecek to his 14th win of the season, tops among all NHL rookie goalies.
It was perhaps even more fitting that all of Vanecek's offensive support came from Washington's three Russian skaters, who were sidelined for much of the early season while the freshman goaltender was establishing himself. Either way, it's what team sports is all about - picking each other up.
"He has been unbelievable," says Caps defenseman Justin Schultz of Vanecek. "He has bailed us out numerous times, even tonight when he made some big saves at the end. It was nice for us to respond that way, and you want to really pick it up after a goal scored either way, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight."
Heat Wave - Ovechkin's second-period goal was his 15th of the season and the 721st of his NHL career. The Caps captain now has scored seven times in his last seven games and appears to be in the midst of one of his patented heaters, extended goal-scoring spells that seem to crop up once or twice every season. Last season, Ovechkin had a spell of 16 goals in just 10 games in January-February, and he had scored eight goals in his previous 10 games when the season was abruptly halted on March 12.
"For me, when he's moving he's really dangerous - when he's coming in off the wing with the puck, and when he's getting to the front of the net," says Laviolette. "And for me it's been visible lately. He's been trying to play a powerful game, and that is moving your feet - kind of the same thing as [Kuznetsov] but different. When you're moving your feet, you put yourself in a position where you can attack holes and attack angles and get your shot off, and Kuzy is doing the same thing I think, to make plays.
"The fact that they're playing with more and more speed, I think that that's really important. But Ovi is getting looks; I thought he could have had another one or two tonight. He had it on the stick and he got into an area that he wants to get to, and just missed or just didn't get it off. It's nice to see him getting rewarded for his work."
Ovechkin is now 10 goals shy of matching Hockey Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne (731) for fifth place on the NHL's all-time goals list. With 15 goals on the season and with 26 games remaining, he still has a chance for a 16th straight 30-goal season, which would establish a new NHL record. Ovechkin currently shares the League standard of 15 straight seasons with 30 or more goals with Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Gartner and Jaromir Jagr.
Doing A Lot With A Little - Caps winger Daniel Sprong was a real spark plug on Thursday night, helping to generate and create each of Washington's first three goals. His diligent forechecking created Orlov's goal at 3:10 of the first, and he teed up Ovechkin's goal in the second, one of the captain's patented one-timers from his left dot office, a 5-on-5 tally rather than his typical power play lamplighter. Sprong also forced the turnover that resulted in Kuznetsov's first goal.
With just 10:50 in ice time, Sprong picked up a pair of assists and was plus-3 on the night. He skated a number of shifts on the right side of a line with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov.
Washington opened the night with Richard Panik skating alongside the two Russian forwards, and when Sprong helped set up Orlov's goal, he was playing on a line with Conor Sheary and T.J. Oshie. Sprong took his first shift with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov early in the second period.
"We had to start somewhere tonight, with Osh coming off of those units and needing him to play some center," says Laviolette. "But I knew I was going to mix it up a little bit. I started somewhere; if it wasn't happening, then I was going to go somewhere else with it. And I was going to use Osh up there [with the Russians] which I did as well.
"But when Spronger went up there, there was more speed, there was more action, there was more offense, and so we left it at that."
In his last 11 games, Sprong has seven points (four goals, three assists) despite limited ice time in many of those contests. He made the most of his top six opportunity on Thursday.
"He's got to play good defense, he's got to compete strong on pucks," says Laviolette when asked what Sprong needs to do to stay in the lineup. "He's got to take care of that end of it, and he's got to work to create offense. He earned the opportunity just based on what I'm seeing, and so he's got to continue to do that."
Helping Hands -On Kuznetsov's first goal of the game, Caps defenseman Brenden Dillon picked up the secondary helper, his eighth assist of the season and the 100th assist of his NHL career.
By The Numbers -John Carlson led the Caps with 22:59 in ice time … Ovechkin led the Caps with four shots on net … Carlson led the team with nine shot attempts … Garnet Hathaway led Washington with eight hits … Zdeno Chara led the Caps with six blocked shots … Nic Dowd won 11 of 17 draws (65 percent).