Capitals Defeat Devils in Overtime | GAME STORY

NEWARK, NJ - The New Jersey Devils showed plenty of resolve Saturday night, but the comeback ultimately fell just short in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals, settling for a single point after trailing for much of the game.

New Jersey twice found itself chasing the game after late-period goals by Washington, yet refused to fade. The Devils pushed back to keep the game within reach in a tight Metropolitan Division matchup. Jesper Bratt had a two-goal night, and Cody Glass gave New Jersey a 3-2 lead in the third before Alex Ovechkin’s goal forced overtime.

“We’ve got to manage that a little better,” Bratt said of playing with their short third-period lead. “We can’t let them come back and score the next shift on us right away.”

The three goals in regulation by the Capitals were close to freebies, as Keefe explained.

"Second goal, we’re just way too casual, turn the puck over in a prime scoring area and give them a free one,” Keefe said.

The Devils were ultimately unable to complete the rally. Washington capitalized on its opportunity in overtime, with less than a minute to play in the extra frame, denying New Jersey the second point and bringing a hard-fought game to a frustrating end.

“We played a good game, found ways to get a couple in the third period, obviously puts us in a position to win," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "One on the power play, two at even strength should be enough to win you games, but we gave them too many tonight.”

“You’ve got to take a lot of decent things away from it,” Jake Allen said. “I thought our penalty kill did a great job on the one kill we had and our power play kicked in. There’s definitely a lot of things we can take.”

Here are some observations from the game:

• New Jersey hadn't scored more than two goals in a game dating back to December 13 against the Anaheim Ducks. New Jersey’s offense has dried up over the last two weeks

In the 12 games played in the month of December, the Devils have scored three or more goals just four times, including Saturday's contest, the other two being losses, 8-4 to Tampa, and 5-3 to Columbus.

"It was good to see some pucks go into the net for those guys up front,” Allen said. “It’s a good feeling. We created some momentum there in the second and in the third. You’ve got to take a lot of decent things away from (the game).”

• At 8:02 of the first period, the Capitals thought they had taken a 1-0 lead when a 3-on-2 rush up the ice resulted in a goal by Dylan Strome. However, the Devils' bench called for an offside review. It didn’t take long to notice on the replay that Strome did, in fact, enter the offensive zone well before his teammate carrying the puck crossed the line, thus resulting in the goal being overturned and the score returning to 0-0.

• The Capitals took their first official lead of the game with just 0.4 seconds remaining in the opening period. Alex Ovechkin showed great awareness in the dying seconds, firing the puck from the half wall toward the net. With the Devils' high forward Arseny Gritsyuk unable to pick him up, Aliaksei Protas slipped in from the top of the circle and tapped the puck past Jake Allen. It marked the latest goal the Devils have surrendered in any period this season.

“It’s so tight, if you can just keep that puck contained, it’s not going to get to our net,” Keefe said. “Or if you do turn it over, recognize there’s not a lot of time left and you can just hold the net-front and take away any of the danger, I thought Jake maybe could have got his stick on that as well and helped us and prevent it from going across. Those things add up."

•Jesper Bratt continues to climb the ranks on the Devils' all-time lists. His power play goal against the Capitals was his 477th career point, all with New Jersey, to pass Scott Niedermayer for the sixth most points all-time in franchise history.

• Bratt’s second goal, which tied the game at 2–2, and Glass’s eventual winner came just 32 seconds apart.

• Although not quite mathematically the halfway point of the season, coming off the holiday break has felt like an unofficial halfway mark. The game against the Capitals also marked a stretch of 15 games in 30 days and 20 games in 41 days leading up to the Olympic break.