GAME STORY: Capitals 5, Devils 2

NEWARK, NJ - The Devils fell behind 3-0 in the first period but battled their way back into the game before ultimately falling 5-2 on Saturday afternoon to the Washington Capitals.
Pavel Zacha scored for the Devils, extending his scoring streak to nine games, the second-longest active streak in the NHL.

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils face these same Washington Capitals again tomorrow. 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.
Less than four minutes into the game, Justin Schultz threaded a pass across the slot to Garnet Hathaway, who one-timed it past Mackenzie Blackwood to put Washington on the board first.
Washington struck again 1:36 later as a wrist shot by Brenden Dillon deflected off P.K. Subban in front of the net and then off Daniel Sprong before going over Blackwood to make it 2-0.
Capitals dominated on the scoresheet and on the shot clock in the early going. Devils didn't get their first shot until after Washington had skated out to a two-goal lead and shots with eight minutes to go in the first were 9-3 for the Caps.
With 6:20 to go in the first, Washington skated in on a three-on-one. Lars Eller worked a give-and-go with Conor Sheary which ended with Eller burying the puck at the side of the net.
"It wasn't a great start," said Travis Zajac, who was honored before the game in a ceremony for his 1000th career game. "A couple of turnovers that led to goals and our execution wasn't where it needs to be."
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff echoed those thoughts.
"We weren't ready to play. We weren't ready to compete," said Ruff. "We turned a lot of pucks over. It looked like we wanted to be a fancy team because our wall battles weren't great."
Zajac was tripped up by Sheary in the final two minutes of the first, giving the Devils the game's first power play but they were unable to convert.
Seven seconds into the man advantage, P.K. Subban intentionally blasted a shot from the point off the end boards and Nico Hichier pounced on the puck in front, slipping it five-hole on Caps starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek to make it a two-goal game. Jack Hughes got the other assist.
After one, shots on goal were 14-8 for Washington.
Ovechkin was called for hooking early in the second, giving the Devils another power play but the Caps killed it off.
Several minutes later, Pavel Zacha converted a feed from Nico Hischier to make it a one-goal game. Zacha spun and fired it off the post and in from the high slot. The goal extended Zacha's scoring streak to nine games.
Shots in the second were 5-4 Devils; 18-13 Capitals through 40 minutes.
Devils continued to push in the third. Vanecek had to make a great stop on Butcher in close as the Devils defenseman pinched and nearly skated the puck around the Caps netminder early in the period.
"Starting in the second, we started to dictate the play and even in the third, guys were making plays and we had chances to tie it up," noted Zajac.
Nine minutes into the period, the Devils had the only three shots and the Caps at that point had gone nearly 20 minutes in the game without a shot on goal.
By the 11-minute mark of the third, the Devils had pulled even in shots in the game at 20-20.
"The last 40, what I like to see," said Ruff. "But totally unacceptable, the first 20."
The Caps did capitalize on one of the few chances they got as Jakob Vrana skated in on a breakaway with 8:11 left in the third and fired a shot past Blackwood to move the Caps back in front by two.
Dillon cleared the puck out of the rink from his own end, giving the Devils a power play and a chance to get close. Six seconds into the penalty, a point shot by Subban was redirected into the face of Nico Hischier. The Devils captain skated off the ice and into the dressing room for repairs.
"I don't have an update," said Ruff. "I talked to (the trainers) briefly afterwards and he's going to be looked at. That moment was scary and we're just hoping for the best.
"I believe it hit the shield or top of the helmet and pushed the shield into his face. It hit him really hard.
Thirty seconds into the man advantage, Kyle Palmieri got penalized, negating the rest of the power play.
Nic Dowd potted an empty netter to seal it for the visitors with 54 seconds to go.