GAME STORY: Capitals 2, Devils 1 (OT)

NEWARK, NJ -Five of the previous six games between the Devils and Washington Capitals were decided by one goal. The Capitals triumphed in all five of those previous contests.
So, it's only fitting that the penultimate matchup of the season between the two clubs followed the same script of a one-goal victory for Washington as the Capitals won a 2-1 overtime contest Friday night at Prudential Center.

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils face the Capitals for the final time this season in an Easter Sunday showdown at 3 p.m.. You can watch on MSG+ and listen on the Devils Hockey Network,
including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com.
Game time is 3:08 PM ET.
The Devils fell to 0-5-2 against Washington on the season.
"For whatever reason they've had our number," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. "It hasn't been a great matchup for us."
Dmitry Orlov tallied the overtime-winner with just 20.8 seconds remaining in the extra session. The goal came after the Devils had three glorious scoring chances with a Jack Hughes breakaway and two setups in front of the Washington net.
"We've had opportunities to win games and haven't finished against them," Ruff said. "There are a lot of lessons for our young players playing a team like that. They've got some great veteran players that know how to close games."
So close, yet so far.
That has been the story of the Devils' season series against Washington. So close, yet so far.
The Devils will have one more chance Sunday afternoon when these teams meet for the final time in the 2020-21 season.
Here are some other observations from tonight's game…
* Mike McLeod scored his sixth goal of the season off of a big rebound chance. Nothing crazy about the play. McLeod used his speed to barrel toward the net and got inside leverage on Tom Wilson for an open lane. The puck jumped right to McLeod's stick and he finished the play.
* Entering the game, Ruff said he didn't want his team to trade chance-for-chance with the much more opportunistic Capitals. He pointed to a five-shot third period (NJ - 4, WSH - 1) from Feb. 28 as an example of how he wanted his Devils to play.
The team heeded its coach's advice. Despite what the shot clock reads, it was a tight three periods of play. No odd-man rushes, no end-to-end chances, no breakaways. It was limited space, limited ice and a fight for every possession and shot opportunity.
Considering the Devils are coming off of blowing a third-period lead to Boston and Washington just surrendered eight goals the previous evening to the New York Islanders, it's not surprising that both teams were much more in-tune with its defensive responsibilities.
* Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood was great in net. I may just copy-paste that for the rest of the season. It's such a common occurrence.
He stopped 38-of-40 shots from the Capitals, including stopping Conor Sheary on a breakaway seconds into overtime.
"Mackenzie gave us a real sound game," Ruff said. "It's disappointing because we had two or three opportunities in overtime to win him a game. We didn't finish those opportunities. At the same time he made the big save right off the battle at center ice within 15 seconds of overtime. He gave us the opportunity to get those chances a little later on."
While Blackwood certainly did his part between the pipes, the Devils players did their part by keeping the majority of those shots from long distance.
"(My teammates) did a good job of keeping stuff to the outside and making them shoot from bad angles," Blackwood said. "They're going to get their few chances where they get inside the house, as long as we do a good job of eliminating that we'll have a good chance of having a solid game defensively."
* One of the few bright spots from New Jersey's 5-4 shootout loss in Boston Tuesday was the play of defenseman Ryan Murray. Despite the loss, Murray finished the contest with two assists and a plus-3.
Murray carried that play over into Friday night. His quick dish to Jesper Boqvist in the second period led directly to the Devils' opening goal of the game. Murray now has three assists and a plus-4 in his past two games.
Murray spoke following the team's optional morning skate today, and he gave a lot of credit to his recent sold play to finding a groove with his D-partner Sami Vatanen.
"Sami is a great guy to play with," Murray said. "We've played together well and we've gotten along together well. We can read off of each other well on the ice. I'm really happy playing with him."
* The Devils power play is still trying to solve its current drought. After coming up empty on two tries against the Capitals, New Jersey is now 0 for its last 12 power-play opportunities.
Their first power play chance of the game was reflective of something that has creeped in the Devils' game of late. The puck stayed mostly along the perimeter and the team settled for a shot from the point. There's nothing wrong with a shot from the point. Shots are the best way to breakdown a PK setup. But the Devils have become too reliant on that. There is little player motion and they've shied away from passing through the PK box. As such, the power play has become very predictable.