Capitals erase first-period deficit to beat Devils

The Washington Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Saturday night at Capital One Arena, scoring four unanswered goals after falling behind in the first period. Washington improved to 5-3-0, its second straight win. New Jersey fell to 4-4-0, its fourth multi-goal loss of the season. Read more: Capitals Devils recap

New Jersey grabbed the lead at 10:04 of the first period. Arseny Gritsyuk's shot from the left wall caught Logan Thompson through traffic and trickled in for a 1-0 edge, coming a second after New Jersey's second power play of the period had expired.

Washington answered before intermission. Ryan Leonard tied it with 3:18 left in the first period on Washington's own power play, picking up a long outlet from Thompson and a drop pass from Jakob Chychrun in the neutral zone. He raced the length of the ice and beat Jake Allen for his third goal of the season.

The Capitals did not trail again.

Ilya Protas put Washington ahead for good 1:16 into the second period, finishing an end-to-end rush on a pass from Alex Ovechkin. The assist was Ovechkin's 761st career helper, one shy of Nicklas Backstrom's franchise record for assists by a Capital.

Dylan Strome made it 3-1 at 4:36 of the second period on a feed from Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, his first goal of the season. Boone Jenner scored at 11:14 off a Vincent Desharnais shot that deflected in front of the net, pushing the lead to 4-1 before the period ended.

Thompson holds off a flurry

New Jersey spent the third period trying to climb back into it. Washington still led 4-1 when the period began. Washington had actually outshot the Devils 8-7 in the first period and 12-7 in the second, but New Jersey flipped that completely, firing 17 shots at Thompson in the third while Washington managed just 5.

Thompson made 16 of those 17 third-period saves to keep the lead intact. Timo Meier finally beat him on a power play with 19 seconds left, his first goal of the season and New Jersey's only conversion in four power-play chances. Allen made 21 saves for New Jersey. Washington's four-goal second period, not a shaky third, was the difference.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery praised his goaltender after the game. "He makes those huge saves and keeps them off the board," Carbery said of Thompson. Devils coach Sheldon Keefe focused on a different problem. "I don't know if we won a puck battle the entire second period," Keefe said.