Washington Capitals beat New Jersey Devils as Jenner caps four-goal run

Gritsyuk opens, Leonard answers

New Jersey failed to convert its first power play after Alex Tuch was penalized for crosschecking Declan Chisholm. Arseny Gritsyuk opened the scoring from the wall, with Dawson Mercer screening Washington goalie Logan Thompson.

The goal came one second after a power play ended.

Ryan Leonard answered for Washington on a first-period power play. He took Jakob Chychrun’s pass, skated end-to-end and deked Jake Allen to bring the Capitals level. The teams were tied at 1–1.

Three goals in the second

Washington took the lead early in the second period. Vincent Desharnais advanced the puck to Alex Ovechkin, whose cross-ice pass found Ilya Protas for 2–1. Dylan Strome then completed a passing play involving Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, scoring his first goal of the season.

Boone Jenner extended the advantage to 4–1 later in the second. He converted a puck arriving from Desharnais’s point attempt, completing Washington’s three-goal period. That left New Jersey three goals behind heading into the third period.

Thompson saves before Meier’s late goal

In the third period, Thompson gloved a scoring chance from Jesper Bratt. Amadeus Lombardi also forced him into a save beside the net on a later New Jersey power play.

Anthony Mantha sent Evan Rodrigues on a breakaway, and Rodrigues was taken down to produce the Devils’ final power play. Mercer set up Jesper Boqvist, who missed. Continued puck movement then preceded Timo Meier’s late goal. Meier’s finish cut the deficit to two in the closing seconds.

Meier scored with 19 seconds remaining.

Thompson stopped 29 of New Jersey’s 31 shots, with the Devils pressing during the third period.