Oshie, Ovechkin help Capitals cool off Devils
NEWARK, N.J.--T.J. Oshie scored twice and Alex Ovechkin added his league-leading ninth goal as the Washington Capitals handed the New Jersey Devils their first loss of the season with a 5-2 decision on Friday at the Prudential Center.
Nicklas Backstrom scored a goal and set up three others and Evgeny Kuznetsov had a pair of assists for the Capitals (3-1-1). Oshie finished with three points, also assisting on Backstrom's goal.
The Devils (3-1-0) received goals from Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri's goal was the 100th of his NHL career.
Oshie opened the scoring 14:49 into the first period, burying a Backstrom feed after the Swedish center hounded Devils defenseman John Moore into a turnover in the offensive zone.
Ovechkin made it 2-0 at the 8:01 mark of the second when he snapped a power-play goal past Devils goaltender Cory Schneider from his office in the left circle. The Capitals superstar became only the fourth player in the NHL's expansion era (since 1967-68) to score nine goals in the first five games of a season, joining Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and Patrick Marleau.
Hall's first goal of the season, on the power play, brought the Devils within one at 16:28 of the second.
Jakub Vrana deflected a shot past Schneider at the other end just one minute before the second intermission to restore Washington's two-goal lead.
The Capitals squelched another New Jersey rally early in the third period. After Palmieri scored on a breakaway 53 seconds into the session, the Capitals scored on both ends of a double-minor high-sticking penalty called against New Jersey's Pavel Zacha, extending their lead to 5-2 by the 7:02 mark of the period.
Oshie scored his second of the night and fifth of the season at 5:26, before Backstrom netted the Capitals' third power-play goal of the game less than two minutes later.
NOTES: Devils RW Drew Stafford (lower body) skated in the morning, but missed his third straight game. Coach John Hynes indicated that Stafford very well might play Saturday night against the New York Rangers. ... The Devils also scratched D Mirco Mueller and D Ben Lovejoy. ... D Dalton Prout made his season debut for the Devils. ... Capitals RW Tom Wilson played his first game of the season after serving a four-game suspension. ... D Taylor Chorney, LW Nathan Walker and C Tyler Graovac were scratched by the Capitals.