L. Hughes, Devils recover to top Capitals in shootout

WASHINGTON -- Luke Hughes had a goal and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils recovered after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period to defeat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in a shootout at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Arseny Gritsyuk also scored for the Devils (13-4-1), who are 4-0-1 in their past five games, each of which has been decided in either overtime or a shootout. Jake Allen made 29 saves and Simon Nemec, who had four goals in his previous two games, scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout.

“The guys stuck together tonight,” Allen said. “They showed a lot of discipline, a lot of character, and that’s what we’re going to need moving forward.”

The Devils played without their leading scorer Jack Hughes, who had surgery on his finger after sustaining a non-hockey injury on Thursday. Hughes is expected to miss up to two months.

“We know we’re a good team, we believe in our group,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’re not a one-man team. We’ve been dealing with injuries and adversity all year and finding ways to get points and stay alive in games. The guys just played incredibly hard here today.”

Alex Ovechkin and Connor McMichael each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (8-8-2), who have lost four of five (1-3-1). Logan Thompson made 29 saves.

“We’ve just got to stick with it,” Thompson said. “We feel like we’re generating chances each night. You can come away and say we should have won that one. It’s frustrating. … We’ve got to start getting some wins here and getting more points.”

Gritsyuk gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 5:05 of the first period, scoring short side on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Hughes during a power play.

“The start was probably as bad as you could script it, taking three penalties in the first six minutes,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “Not a recipe for a penalty kill that’s struggling, to throw them into that spot.”

Hughes made it 2-0 when he skated across the top of zone, cut down toward the left circle and beat Thompson with a snap shot at 17:46 of the first.

McMichael pulled the Capitals to within 2-1 at 1:00 of the third period. With Allen screened and focused on Ovechkin in the right circle, Ovechkin passed in front to McMichael, who scored into the open net.

Ovechkin then tied it 2-2 with his 902nd NHL goal at 8:29. He swatted a loose puck through Allen's five-hole from in front off a pass from McMichael.

“I think we were just working,” McMichael said of the comeback. “I think we were hunting pucks. If you look at all the chances we created, they were mostly off of forcing a turnover, working hard in the [offensive] zone, and I think that’s what we need to do more.”

Each goalie made a strong save in overtime. Thompson got his left pad out to block Nemec’s attempt on a rebound at 1:10, and then at the other end Allen made the save on Tom Wilson’s tip-in attempt at 1:21.

“They had a push and scored on us, but we didn’t break, so that’s obviously a positive,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “We battled until the end. Jake did an unbelievable job again and we got the win somehow.”

NOTES: Luke Hughes has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past three games. … Devils forward Shane Lachance had one hit in 7:25 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Capitals forward Dylan Strome had an assist for his 400th NHL point (151 goals, 249 assists in 534 NHL games). … Capitals forward Nic Dowd played 17:20 in his 600th NHL game.