Devils defeat Capitals in OT, finish 2nd in Metropolitan Division

WASHINGTON -- Luke Hughes scored his first NHL goal with 27 seconds remaining in overtime, but the New Jersey Devils finished second in the Metropolitan Division following a 5-4 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

Hughes, who also had an assist in his second NHL game, scored on a wraparound after collecting the rebound of his shot and skating around the net to stuff the puck in at the right post.
"Obviously, your first goal, you never forget it," Hughes said. "It was awesome to be out there, and with [brother Jack Hughes] assisting it, it was pretty cool."

The Devils finished with 112 points, one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who defeated the Florida Panthers 6-4. New Jersey will have home-ice advantage against the third-place New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We talked about step one. That was step one, to make sure that we're in the playoffs, play good hockey," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "And now the stage gets bigger. The opportunity to accomplish and keep moving on will be in front of us and you've got to just really wrap your arms around this moment."
Erik Haula scored two goals for the Devils (52-22-8), who set a franchise wins record by rallying from down 4-1 in the third period. Mackenzie Blackwood was lifted early in the second period after allowing four goals on 11 shots. Akira Schmid made 20 saves in relief.
"It's a great accomplishment," Haula said of the wins record. "What a way to end the year and just the overall journey of 82 games, how we got better, how we matured, how we learned a lot along the way. And now we put ourselves in a great spot and we're excited for an opportunity to go on a run."
Craig Smith scored his 200th NHL goal for the Capitals (35-37-10), who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013-14 after going 2-8-3 in their final 13 games. Darcy Kuemper made 29 saves.
Washington captain Alex Ovechkin played 20:02 and had an assist in his return after missing three games with an upper-body injury.
"Season's done, nothing you can do," Ovechkin said. "I'm always saying during the year, 'Every point is an important point,' right? You have to collect as many as possible at the beginning so you're not in this situation like we were two months ago. We have to chase the team, and if we get two points, teams ahead of us get another two points. If we lose, they win, so it's kind of up and down for us."
Haula scored on a breakaway at 3:17 of the third period to pull the Devils within 4-3, and Dougie Hamilton tied it 4-4 at 12:23, scoring on a one-timer from the center point off a pass from Damon Severson.
"I think they probably started cheating for offense a little bit and we just didn't do a good job of staying in front of their rush and limiting their chances," Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. "They got some good looks and they made it count. Not a great way to finish but it is what it is."

Joe Snively
gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 4:36 of the first period on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle on the rush off a pass from Sonny Milano.
Rasmus Sandin made it 2-0 at 5:59 when he scored from the slot off a centering pass from Nicklas Backstrom along the boards.
Smith increased the lead to 3-0 at 10:18, intercepting a cross-ice pass from Jack Hughes in the New Jersey zone and beating Blackwood glove side.
"Definitely a terrible start, for sure," Devils captain Nico Hischier said. "Not how we pictured it. But we fought back and just a great ending, obviously."

Haula pulled the Devils within 3-1 at 17:06, taking a pass from Yegor Sharangovich on the rush and beating Kuemper with a slap shot from the left circle.
Wilson pushed the lead to 4-1 at 1:05 of the third period when he knocked in a loose puck during a scramble in front of Blackwood, who was then lifted. It was Wilson's fourth straight game with a goal.
"Yeah, we had a nice lead," Washington forward Dylan Strome said. "They kind of just had a good push and we couldn't really fight back, so it's kind of the way the year has gone. We had some good moments and some not-so-good moments, and that's why we're here."
Miles Wood brought New Jersey within 4-2 at 18:36 when he scored on a high one-timer from just above the right circle on a power play.

NOTES:The Devils set a New Jersey/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts record with 112 points, one more than they had in 2000-01. … Hamilton's 22nd goal tied Barry Beck (Rockies, 1977-78) for the most by a defenseman in franchise history. … New Jersey and the Toronto Maple Leafs were the only NHL teams that were not shut out this season. … Devils forward Jesper Bratt (assist) extended his point streak to seven games (one goal, six assists) and tied his career high with 73 points (32 goals, 41 assists). … New Jersey forward Curtis Lazar had two hits in 10:17 after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury. … Ovechkin finished with 42 goals and has 822 in his NHL career. He is 72 goals behind Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history. … The Devils are the only team Kuemper has not defeated in his NHL career (0-5-4). … Strome (assist) finished the season with a six-game point streak (five goals, three assists).