Capitals Fall To Devils, 5-3 In Season Opener; John Carlson, Dylan Strome And Tom Wilson Score


Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals fell to the New Jersey Devils, 5-3 in their 2024-25 season-opener Saturday night at Capital One Arena in the District.

After killing two Devils power plays in the first half of the first period, the Capitals opened the scoring with a power play strike from John Carlson. However, the Devils quickly answered with a pair of tallies from Seamus Casey and Paul Cotter for a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.

The Capitals tied the game just 32 second into the middle stanza with a short-range tally from Dylan Strome, but the Devils answered a little over three minutes later with a tally from Tomas Tatar to restore their one-goal lead, 3-2. They stretched their lead to two goals on Paul Cotter’s second goal of the game and held the 4-2 lead into the second intermission.

Tom Wilson cut the Devils lead to 4-3 just 1:35 into the final period. But that was it. The Devils held off the Capitals and added an empty net goal for the 5-3 final.

STARTERS

Charlie Lindgren (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals’ season opener. Jacob Markstrom (1-1-0, 2.55 GAA, .906 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Devils in their fourth game of the season. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Andrew Mangiapane
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano – Hendrix Lapierre – Aliaksei Protas
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh

Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Martin Fehervary – Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Reimsdyk

Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson

Scratches: Jakub Vrana, Alex Alexeyev, Dylan McIlrath

FIRST PERIOD

The Capitals endured two penalty kills in the first half of the first frame to keep the game scoreless. The Capitals would dent the twine 10 seconds into their first power play on a bomb from the blueline by John Carlson (1) at 10:48. Pierre-Luc Dubois (1) had the primary helper. Dylan Strome had the secondary assist.

The Devils quickly answered on a goal from Seamus Casey with a little over six minutes remaining in the first period. J. Bratt (2) and T. Meier (1) had the helpers.

The Devils took their first lead of the night with 3:36 remaining in the first period. Paul Cotter (3) notched the go ahead marker. S. Noesen (2) and E. Haula (2) had the helpers.

The Devils held the 2-1 lead into the first intermission. The Devils led in 5-on-5 shot attempts, 19-16 in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD

The Capitals tied the game early in the second period. Dylan Strome notched the tying tally just 32 seconds into the middle frame. John Carlson (1) and Alex Ovechkin (1) had the helpers.

But the Devils answered back. Tomas Tatar (1) notched the go ahead tally to make it 3-2 at 3:56 of the second period. S. Noesen (3) and E. Haula (3) had the assists.

Capitals defenseman Matt Roy sustained a lower body injury and did not return to tonight’s game.

The Devils made it 4-2 on Paul Cotter’s second goal of the night at 13:38 of the second period. S. Noesen (4) and E. Haula (4) had the assists.

The period concluded with the Devils leading, 4-2. The Devils led in 5-on-5 shot attempts 38-35 after two periods. The Milano-Lapierre-Protas line was a -3 after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Capitals cut the Devils lead to one goal on a beautiful behind-the-goal pass from Connor McMichael (1) to Tom Wilson (1) in the slot for the tally at 1:35 of the third period.

But that would be all the scoring the Capitals could generate. The Devils added an empty net goal for the 5-3 win.


SHAVINGS (From Capitals PR)

  • John Carlson, the franchise leader in goals (152) among defensemen, is now two goals shy of passing passing Dave Ellett (153) for the 10th-most goals by an American-born defenseman in NHL history.
  • Pierre-Luc Dubois recorded his first point as a Capital on Carlson’s power-play goal. Dubois is now two assists shy of 200 career assists.
  • Dylan Strome recorded the secondary assist on Carlson’s goal. Strome led the Capitals in points (27g-40a–67p in 82 GP) in 2023-24 and became the first player other than Alex Ovechkin to finish an 82-game season as Washington’s points leader since Nicklas Backstrom in 2016-17.
  • Dylan Strome scores his first goal of the season and notches his second point of the game (1g, 1a) to tie the score 1-1. Since joining Washington ahead of the 2022-23 season, Strome ranks first on the Capitals in games played (164) and assists (83) and second in goals (51) and points (134).
  • John Carlson recorded the primary assist on Strome’s goal, his second point of the game (1g, 1a). Carlson has recorded 46 points (11g, 35a) in 58 career games against New Jersey, the most points he has registered against a single franchise.
  • Alex Ovechkin registered the secondary assist on Strome’s goal, his first point of the season. Ovechkin is now two assists shy of 700 career assists.
  • Tom Wilson scores his first goal of the season to cut the deficit to 4-3. Wilson has recorded 24 points (7g, 17a) in 43 career games vs. New Jersey, the most points he has recorded against a single opponent.
  • Connor McMichael recorded his first point of the season on Wilson’s goal. McMichael established single-season career highs in goals (18), assists (15), points (33) and games played (80) in 2023-24.

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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