Category Archives: Washington Capitals
A Capital L – Devils lose 5-1 to Finish Weekend in D.C.
Three Stars of the Game
3rd Star: M. Ribeiro (WAS) (2 assists)
2nd Star: Braden Holtby (WAS) (1 GA, 21 Saves)
1st Star: Alexander Ovechkin (WAS) (3 goals, 1 assist, GWG)
Coming off a hard-fought, come-from-behind win on Thursday night, the Devils were hoping to take both games in D.C. and extend their lead in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. The Capitals, however, had other plans.
Game 17 – New Jersey Devils at Washington Capitals
Game Time: 7:00 PM
TV: MSG+
Radio: WFAN 660 AM, 101.9 FM
Match-Up
The New Jersey Devils have been in the NHL since 1982, but this week they will do something they’ve never done in team history: travel out of town to play the same opponent twice. In the 2005-06 season, the Devils hosted the Flyers in consecutive games, but they’ve never done it on the road in the regular season. Thursday night the New Jersey Devils (9-3-4) will play the first of two consecutive games in our nation’s capital against the Washington Capitals (5-9-1). The Devils will look to get out of a bit of a funk they’ve found themselves in, going 1-2-1 in their past 4 games, while the Capitals will look to continue their hot streak, winning 3 of their last 4. The Devils escaped with 2 points in the teams’ last meeting, winning 3-2 in OT in New Jersey.
Capital Punishment: 3rd Period Penalties Almost Upend Devils, Still Manage 3-2 OT Win
Three Stars of the Game
3rd Star: Jacob Josefson (NJD) (1 assist)
2nd Star: Mike Green (WAS) (1 goal, 1 assist)
1st Star: Ilya Kovalchuk (NJD) (GWG goal)
The Devils seemed to be lacking a certain pep in their step to start the 1st period of Friday night’s game. Their offense seemed uncoordinated, and they were unable to put a lot of pressure on the Capitals to start the game. Washington, however, was dominant through the first half of the period. Brodeur was called upon to weather an early storm by a desperate opponent, and as he did for the first two games, Marty was up to the task. As the period went on, and more fans began to make their way through the snowstorm outside, the momentum began to shift the Devils way. The Devils were given their first power play of the night, as Jay Beagle was called for holding, but with just 7 seconds left on the power play, Kovalchuk was called for hooking. The Devils penalty kill looked strong, as usual, and in the closing seconds, Josefson broke free from the zone with Gionta trailing. As Tomas Kundratek swatted the puck away from Josefson in front of Neuvirth, his clearing attempt landed directly on Gionta’s stick, resulting in the first goal of the game as Gionta hammered home a golden opportunity at 13:55 of the first period.
Game 3 – New Jersey Devils vs. Washington Capitals
Match-Up
In the home-opener, the New Jersey Devils (2-0-0) put up a decisive win over their Atlantic Division rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, in front of an ecstatic, sold-out crowd. They’ll look to repeat that success against the Washington Capitals (0-3-0) Friday night in front of another sold out Prudential Center. During the 2011-12 season, the Devils went 3-1-0 against the Capitals, losing their first outing 3-1, then winning the next two in shootouts before shutting out the Capitals 5-0 on March 2. At the Prudential Center, the Devils were 1-1-0 against the Capitals with Martin Brodeur in net both nights.
Game Preview – Game 15: Your New Jersey Devils @ Alex Ovechkin
New Jersey Devils (7-6-1, 15 points) @ Washington Capitals (10-4-0, 20 points)
7:00 PM EST
TV: MSG Plus, NHL Network-US (subject to local blackouts)
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Matchup:
Tonight is the second of a home-and-home series between the two clubs. Last night the Capitals beat the Devils 3-1 at Prudential Center. This will be the second of four meetings between the two teams.
Happy Birthday Adam Larsson:
Today, the Devils’ first round draft pick celebrates his 19th birthday.
Last night, Larsson got an early birthday gift as he scored his first career NHL goal to give the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period. The Devils looked to have the momentum as they were pouring on great scoring chances and pressure.
However, the game slipped away as the Capitals tied it late in the second period and scored two goals in the third to give them the 3-1 win.
Devils Strong PK:
In their first eight home games of the year, the New Jersey Devils have not allowed a single powerplay goal. The team has been down a man 30 times while playing at Prudential Center.
Meanwhile on the road, the Devils are 18-22 (81.8%) on the PK.
Overall the Devils are second in the league with a 92.3% PK.
Against the Capitals:
All-time the Devils are 67-76-8-1 against the Capitals, and are 27-45-4-0 when playing in Washington.
Patrik Elias has the most points as a Devil, as an active player, against the Capitals with 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 49 games played.
Kirk Muller has the most points of any Devil player against the Capitals with 51 points (20 goals, 31 assists).
Johan Hedberg is 7-4-2 in his career against the Capitals with one shutout and a 2.85 GAA.
Projected Devils Lineup:
Parise – Henrique – Palmieri
Sykora - Elias - Zubrus
Tedenby - Carter – Clarkson
Zharkov - Mills - Janssen
Greene – Larsson
Tallinder - Fayne
Volchenkov – Salvador
Hedberg
Brodeur
——————–
Boudreau Close to Milestone:
After last night’s win against the Devils, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau is sitting at 199 career wins. His current coaching record is 199-83-39. With an impressive record like that, Boudreau has a .681 career points percentage which is tied for the best in NHL history for a coach with at least 250 games of experience.
Capitals Detour on Highway to Hell:
The Washington Capitals are 5-1-0 in their last six games against the Devils. The one loss came from a 5-0 Devils win last season. Despite that 5-0 win for the Devils, the Capitals have outscored the Devils 21-10 in that span. The Capitals believe they have the Devils’ number as they have collected the most wins and points over the Devils than any other franchise.
Projected Capitals Lineup:
Ovechkin – Johansson – Brouwer
Laich – Backstrom – Semin
Chimera – Eakin – Ward
Hendricks – Halpern – Knuble
Erskine – Wideman
Hamrlik – Carlson
Alzner – Schultz
Neuvirth
Vokoun
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Game Preview – Game 14: Washington Capitals @ YOUR NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Washington Capitals (9-4-0, 18 points) @ New Jersey Devils (7-5-1, 15 points)
7:00 PM EST
TV: MSG Plus
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Matchup:
Tonight marks the first of four games against the Washington Capitals this season, and the first of a home-and-home series against the Capitals as tomorrow night the two teams will meet in Washington, D.C.
Coming into Tonight:
After beating the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the Devils have tied their season high three game winning streak. The win came off of the stick of rookie sensation Adam Henrique. In 10 games played this season, Henrique has four goals, three assists and is a +1. Henrique also has a four game point streak going into tonight’s game (four goals, two assists). Henrique now has the game winning goal in two straight games which makes him the Devils’ first rookie to complete the task since Patrik Elias did it back in November of 1997.
The Devils are currently 2-0 without Ilya Kovalchuk in the lineup this season. Kovalchuk pulled a muscle in his leg during last week’s 4-3 win over Philadelphia. Kovalchuk is not participating in this morning’s skate and will not play in tonight’s game or tomorrow’s game.
Player Moves:
Vladimir Zharkov was recalled from Albany (AHL) this morning. He is participating in the morning skate wearing his usual #18, and it looks like he will play in tonight’s game.
Eric Boulton was placed on Injured Reserve on Monday, retroactive to October 21. It was on October 21 that he hurt his hand during a fight with Doug Murray in a game against San Jose.
Against the Capitals:
All-time the Devils are 67-75-8-1 against the Capitals, and are 40-30-4-1 when playing in New Jersey.
Ilya Kovalchuk has the most career points against the Capitals with 52 points (24 goals, 28 assists) in 48 games played.
Patrik Elias has the most points as a Devil against the Capitals with 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 48 games played.
Martin Brodeur has an outstanding 36-16-4 record against the Capitals with a 2.28 GAA and 6 shutouts.
Projected Devils Lineup:
Parise – Henrique – Palmieri
Sykora - Elias - Zubrus
Tedenby - Carter – Clarkson
Zharkov - Mills - Janssen
Greene – Larsson
Tallinder - Fayne
Volchenkov – Salvador
Brodeur
Hedberg
——————–
Capitals News:
The Capitals enter Prudential Center tonight on a two-game losing streak despite having scored the second-most goals per game (3.77) in the NHL. During their last four periods of play, the Capitals have been outscored by the Islanders and Stars 8-3. As a punishment of recent play, Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau had the Capitals practice for two straight hours on Wednesday, including the dreaded bag skate. A bag skate is endless laps around the rink or sprints from line-to-line.
On the bright side, the Capitals look to have Mike Green back in the lineup tonight. Green injured his ankle six games ago, but participated in the infamous practice on Wednesday and practiced Thursday with his defensive partner, Roman Hamrlik.
Capitals against New Jersey Fun Facts:
New Jersey native John Carlson led the Capitals in points against the Devils last season, two goals and five assists in four games.
Alex Ovechkin ranks first in goals scored since the 2005-06 season with 307 goals. Second on that list is the Devils’ Ilya Kovalchuk with 263 goals.
Mike Knuble leads the Capitals in career points against New Jersey with 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 61 games played.
Projected Capitals Lineup:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Brouwer
Eakin – Johansson – Semin
Chimera – Laich – Ward
Hendricks – Halpern – Knuble
Alzner – Carlson
Hamrlik – Green
Schultz – Wideman
Neuvirth
Vokoun
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Round 2. Where Do You Stand?
Round 1 of the playoffs is over and now we’re heading into Round 2. We as hockey fans, that is. Since the Devils are out, we have to root for (or against) other teams.
In case you weren’t paying attention – I’m sure you all were – here’s a super quick recap of Round 1.
Caps knocked out the Rangers in 5, awesome!
Tampa eliminated the Pens in 7, great!
The Flyers are still in it over Buffalo in 7, no!
Boston beat the Canadians in 7, nice! (We don’t really have a rivalry with these teams, but after a particular Habs game this season, I had no choice but to root against them!)
As for the teams we don’t have an immediate interest in: Detroit swept the Coyotes, the Preds beat the Ducks in 6, Canucks eliminated last years champ the Blackhawks in 7, and San Jose beat the Kings in 6.
The teams we root against are obvious but everyone has a different stand on who to root for. I’ll be rooting against the Flyers (duh!) and for the Canucks and Caps. I’m torn on the Detroit/San Jose series but I’m leaning towards San Jose. To be honest, I just really like their jerseys and since I have no vested interest in either team, I think that’s a decent reason to base my decision on.
Not only do we want to know who you’re rooting for, we want to see it! Send us pictures (devilsgenerals@gmail.com) of you supporting your Round 2 teams and we’ll post them here. Let us know where you stand!
(Pst, pick 4 teams!)
