Devils Sweep Caps Home-and-Home | GAME STORY

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Devils made the home-and-home with the Capitals a clean sweep.

Two nights after beating Washington at Prudential Center, New Jersey won again in the Capitals’ building, 7-4. 

It wasn't easy, either.

Timo Meier broke a 3-3 tie on the power play in the second period, and Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves on 45 shots as New Jersey won its eighth game in its past 10.

Washington led three times in the first period, on goals by Pierre-Luc Dubois and Anthony Beauvillier, and twice the Devils answered, with Lenni Hameenaho and Connor Brown tying it before the Caps made it 3-2. Jesper Boqvist tied it at 3-3 in the second, and Meier’s power-play goal gave New Jersey its first lead.

"Just resilience," head coach Sheldon Keefe said of his team's performance. "The whole bend don't break piece of it. We have been talking here about nights when you don't quite have it, your special teams got to carry you a bit, and two power play goals, a shorthanded goal, and great goaltending."

Nico Hischier added a shorthanded goal early in the third, and Evan Rodrigues sealed the victory with two goals of his own.

"We had a tough stretch there, and to face these guys, division opponent at the end of it, home and away, is really good for us," Rodrigues said. "It's two big wins for us. Creates a little bit more separation, and we just continue to build from here."

Here are some observations from the game:

• Anton Silaev made his NHL debut against the Caps, and while it came a little earlier than expected, he held his own with 12:14 time on ice and four hits, while paired up with Brenden Dillon. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said before the game that Silaev recieved the call because Vlad Kolyachonok was sick and couldn't play, and the club was also down Brett Pesce, who missed a second game due to illness. 

"I thought he was excellent," Sheldon Keefe said of the 20-year-old's performance. "I thought he looked really good, confident, assertive. That's probably the biggest forward group that there is in the NHL, so you're going to get in some physical confrontations.

"It looked like he won every one of them, and that's a great sign," he added. "He goes into people, he ends plays, and I thought he had some good puck plays as well. So he looked really confident."

• It was probably a thrill for the Silaev to bump Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin off the puck and steal it away in the first period. Silaev was in slight disbelief he was making his NHL debut against his fellow countryman, who played his first NHL game even before Silaev was born.

• Hameenaho scored in back-to-back games, his first two NHL games of the season. And while his goal on Thursday night was a deflection off his glove, this one was no fluke. It was an incredible one-timer off a rush up the ice with his linemates Cody Glass and Jesper Boqvist. 

Boqvist sparked the rush from the defensive zone, flying through the neutral zone with Glass and Hameenaho alongside. He found Glass, the speed stretched the Capitals out, and Hameenaho had the room to whip a one-timer past Lindgren.

"I feel like he's just kind of speedster on our line," Hameenaho said of Boqvist. "He's obviously good skater, but he can make plays."

• Should it have counted? Who knows! But you'll always take the call when its in your favor, right?! Connor Brown's first period power play goal came off a deflection off his skate, parked right in front of the Lindgren's net. You could debate whether it was a "distinct kicking motion" or not, and they did, with the refs reviewing the call. 

The the shock and awe of everyone inside Capital One Arena, the refs said there was no distinct kicking motion, and the goal counted to tie the game 2-2.

"No, that's a redirection," Brown joked on MSG after the game. "I'm not the rules official, but I'm pretty sure that's a redirection. I knew that, I understand that, when I'm building a wall on the back there, I can use my feet to redirect it. And so, I just try to keep my blades on the ice and redirect it, and that's a good goal."

• For only the third time this season, the Devils scored two power play goals in a game. After Brown scored his goal with the redirection, Timo Meier added a second power play goal on Lindgren's doorstep in the 2nd period. 

• Luke Hughes (3a), Brown (1g-2a), Hameenaho (1g-2a) and Boqvist (1g-2a) all had three-point outings. For both Hameenaho and Boqvist, it was their first three-point games.