Hischier has 3 points, Devils get past Capitals

WASHINGTON -- Nico Hischier had two goals and an assist for the New Jersey Devils in a 6-3 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Dawson Mercer and Michael McLeod each scored twice for the Devils (20-14-2), who have won four of five. Nico Daws made 23 saves, and Alexander Holtz and Erik Haula each had two assists.

“We knew what was at stake here,” said Hischier, the New Jersey captain. “It was a big game for us, start off the year right, and I think we did a good job and played a good game and we’ve got to build from that.”

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist, and Alex Ovechkin had two assists for the Capitals (18-12-6), who have lost five of six (1-3-2) and were coming off a 4-3 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Hunter Shepard made 22 saves.

“I thought we did a really good job on their top guys tonight with [Jack] Hughes and [Jesper] Bratt and [Tyler] Toffoli and that line,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said, “but you saw the secondary guys for them come to life in the third period and they can really scoot, and they cause some issues for you.”

New Jersey scored the final three goals of the game.

McLeod gave the Devils a 4-3 lead at 19:44 of the second period when he used his body to shield the puck and scored with a spinning backhand on the rush.

“I was trying to protect the puck and then slingshot it on net there,” McLeod said.

The goal came 46 seconds after Washington had tied it.

“That could give them momentum, but to come back and get the lead before the end of the period, that was important,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “Probably the most important goal of the game.”

Mercer made it 5-3 at 7:16 of the third period, scoring on a one-timer from the slot off a return pass from Haula eight seconds after a power play ended. 

“I thought he was shooting the one-timer, then he gave it back and I shot it,” Mercer said. “I can’t complain.”

McLeod knocked in a loose puck in front at 15:35 for the 6-3 final.

“Just too many mistakes and not enough push at the end,” Carbery said. “I thought our third period would be a lot better than it was, and we didn’t have much of a push and that’s disappointing.”

Hischier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first period. Shepard made the save on Colin Miller’s shot on the rush, but Hischier knocked in the rebound from the slot.

Hischier made it 2-0 on the power play at 9:50, deflecting Luke Hughes’ shot from the point past Shepard from between the circles.

“You can't really ask for a much better start than that: Get two goals in the first 10 minutes,” Mercer said of Hischier scoring. “Overall, he had a great game. He plays the same way every night. He's a great captain, and he really just showed that out there.”

Connor McMichael pulled the Capitals within 2-1 on the man-advantage at 18:38 when he scored over Daws’ shoulder with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.

Mercer increased the lead to 3-1 at 8:08 of the second period when he skated across the slot and scored on a one-timer off a pass from Haula.

Kuznetsov cut it to 3-2 when he received a pass from Ovechkin and slid the puck under Daws’ right pad from below the left circle at 11:25.

John Carlson tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 18:58, scoring on a slap shot from the point off a pass from Kuznetsov.

“I think we’ve done such a good job throughout the whole year,” Carlson said, “and I think it’s just we play smarter, we’re more disciplined, we’re more detailed and it’s worked out well for us this year. But tonight, just a little bit too much loss of momentum when we did grab it back and not a good enough job sustaining it.”

NOTES: Max Pacioretty made his Washington debut and finished with no shots in 11:47 of ice time in his first game since Jan. 19, 2023. The forward signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Capitals on July 1. He missed the first 35 games because of a torn right Achilles tendon. … Washington is 17-1-5 when scoring two or more goals this season. … Kuznetsov (393) passed Mike Gartner for the fifth-most assists in Capitals history. … Ovechkin has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past three games. … Daws got the secondary assist on Hischier’s first goal for his first NHL point. … Devils forward Ondrej Palat did not play because of a lower-body injury, and Ruff said he is likely unavailable for the next few games. … Jack Hughes got his 30th assist of the season in his 31st game and became the fastest player in Devils franchise history to reach the mark, besting Zach Parise’s pace in 2008-09 (33 games). … McLeod won 10 of 14 face-offs (71.2 percent). … Mercer has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past four games.