Capitals top Devils, take lead in Metropolitan Division

WASHINGTON -- Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson each had a goal and two assists, and Alex Ovechkin had three assists to help the Washington Capitals take over first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Christian Djoos had a goal and an assist, and Matt Niskanen and Tom Wilson also scored goals for the Capitals (24-13-3), who moved one point ahead of the Devils.

\[WATCH: All Devils vs. Capitals highlights\]
Braden Holtby made 25 saves for Washington, which has won eight in a row and 15 of its past 17 at home.
"Any game is big right now with the way the division is shaking out," Carlson said. "You never know what can happen. You never know what the season will bring. You've got to collect them while you can, and certainly against teams like this where we're at home and rested and they're playing on a back-to-back and on the road."
John Moore and Travis Zajac scored for New Jersey (22-10-6), which has played two fewer games than Washington. The Devils have lost back-to-back games (0-1-1) following a five-game winning streak, including a 4-3 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.

Djoos circled behind the net before setting up Wilson in front for his sixth goal of the season at 2:26 of the first period. Djoos then scored from the left side to finish off a nice passing play with Backsrom and Ovechkin to make it 2-0 at 11:09.
"I tried to join the rush for a 4-on-3 and then I gave it to Ovi," Djoos said. "He gives it to Backstrom, and he's that kind of guy who would pass it, so for sure I went to the back post and I got it. Just a tap-in. Great play by those guys."
Moore made it 2-1 from the right face-off circle at 17:35 of the first period.
Carlson put the Capitals up 3-1 with a power-play goal from the right face-off circle at 7:01 of the second period.

Niskanen scored from the left face-off circle, finishing off another nice passing play with Devante Smith-Pelly and Ovechkin, to make 4-1 at 4:25 of the third.
Ovechkin, who is tied for the NHL lead with 24 goals, also had three assist against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 28.
"Ovi's an underrated passer," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "I just thought he was a pure shooter from afar, and then you started to see some of the plays that he can make."
Marcus Johansson played his first game back in Washington after being traded to New Jersey on July 2. He got his second assist of the game by setting up Zajac's redirection that made it 4-2 at 9:00 of the third period.
"That's the second time we've played these guys, and both games were pretty similar in terms of them getting out to a lead, winning the special teams and us never really feeling like we had control of the game," said Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, who made 30 saves. "It's something we need to improve upon against this team and find a way to get a lead and find a way to beat these guys, because they're a good measuring stick for us."

Goal of the game

Djoos' goal at 11:09 of the first period.

Save of the game

Holtby's blocker save on Pavel Zacha's deflection at 11:21 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Niskanen's goal at 4:25 of the third period.

They said it

"We talked about it being a big game, an important game to come in against a very good team, and we didn't perform the way we needed to. But I think there's a lot of things we can learn. … You can see Washington came to play. It was important for them. It was important to us. They were the better team tonight." --Devils coach John Hynes
"Honestly, my first year (with the Nashville Predators in 1998-99) I just wanted to get through the full season and not get let go and I've been blessed to be standing here a lot older and more game-weathered." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz on moving into fifth place in NHL history with 737 wins

Need to know

Al Arbour is fourth all-time in wins (782). … Ovechkin played in his 961st NHL game, tying him with Peter Bondra for the second most in Capitals history. Calle Johansson is their all-time leader (983). … Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. … Zajac played in his 800th NHL game. … Johansson's assist on Zajac's goal was his 300th NHL point.

What's next

Devils: At the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)
Capitals: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)