The Washington Capitals secured their sixth win in seven games, but not without a scare, as they let a three-goal lead slip away in the third period before Jakub Vrana’s overtime goal clinched a 5-4 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Despite the win, the Capitals were left with concerns about their performance in the final period. Vrana, who scored twice, including the game-winner, acknowledged the team’s poor play in the third.
“That is unacceptable, what we showed there in the third period,” said Vrana, who now has 10 goals this season. “We did not play even close to what we can play. That was disappointing, but we won the game at the end of the day, and we take that.”
The Devils, who had lost eight of their previous 10 games, mounted an impressive comeback, outshooting the Capitals 16-5 in the third period. Miles Wood, Yegor Sharangovich, and Damon Severson scored within a seven-minute span to tie the game and force overtime.
“I loved their fight,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “One heck of a point.”
While the Capitals remain competitive in the East Division, the blown lead is a warning sign for the veteran team. T.J. Oshie, who ended the team’s 0-for-12 power-play drought with a goal in the first period, emphasized the importance of learning from this close call.
“We can’t think things are going to be easy,” Oshie said. “The New Jersey Devils aren’t going to come into D.C. and take a night off. That’s just not the way it’s going to happen.”
Washington built its lead with goals from Oshie, Vrana, Dmitry Orlov, and Daniel Sprong but faltered as New Jersey rallied. Despite coach Peter Laviolette calling a timeout after the Devils’ second goal, the Capitals could not regain control, leading to Severson’s game-tying goal.
“We just stopped playing,” Laviolette admitted. “It was just a lot of errors, to be honest with you, from mishandling pucks to not executing with pucks to penalties to line changes. There’s just a bunch of things. Some bad defense tied in there, as well. We had our foot on the gas for two periods, and then took it off.”
The comeback was a bright spot for the Devils in a challenging season. Janne Kuokkanen added a second-period goal, and Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves, following up his 40-save shutout performance against Boston.
“Hopefully, it just gives us confidence,” said forward Travis Zajac, who had three assists. “We have to play the right way to be successful. You can’t do it by yourself. We have to support each other, support the puck, execute, and I think we did that in the third because we were hard on pucks, and we were able to come back.”
SPRONG MAKES HIS MARK
With Tom Wilson serving a seven-game suspension, Daniel Sprong stepped up, scoring his fourth goal of the season in his 14th game for the Capitals. On a 2-on-1 rush with captain Alex Ovechkin, Sprong confidently took the shot himself, surprising the Devils’ goaltender.
“When you go down on a 2-on-1 with the greatest goal-scorer, I think everyone thinks that you’re going to give it to him, and even the goalie thought so,” Sprong said. “The D played ‘O’ and their goalie decided to take away his side, too, so I just had to hit the middle of the net, and that’s what happened.”
UP NEXT
- Devils: Travel to face the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
- Capitals: Head to Philadelphia for back-to-back games against the Flyers on Thursday and Saturday.
