Capitals Fall To Devils, 3-2; Connor McMichael Scores 13th Goal Of Season, Matt Roy Tallies First Goal As A Capital

[ad_1]

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals fell to the New Jersey Devils, 3-2, Saturday night at Capital One Arena in Washington. The loss drops the Capitals record to 13-6-1 (27 points) on the season.

The Capitals opened the scoring late in the first frame with a shot from right point by defenseman Matt Roy. The Devils answered less than three minutes later with a power play goal from Tomas Tatar for a 1-1 tie at the first intermission.

The Devils took their first lead of the night with a shot from the left point by Brenden Dillon early in the middle frame and stretched their lead on a power play goal by Dougie Hamilton to make it 3-1 at the second intermission.

The Capitals cut the Devils lead to a single goal on a power play goal from Connor McMichael early in the final frame, but that would be it as the Devils held on for the 3-2 victory.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (5-4-0, 2.59 GAA, .900 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Jake Allen (4-2-1, 2.30 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Devils. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Ivan Miroshnichenko
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Hendrix Lapierre – Lars Eller – Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh

Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Matt Roy
Martin Fehervary – Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: Jakub Vrana, Dylan McIlrath and Alexander Alexeyev

Injured: Alex Ovechkin (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip) and T.J. Oshie (back)

1ST PERIOD

The Capitals opened the scoring late in the first frame with a shot from right point by defenseman Matt Roy at 13:52. It was Roy’s first goal with the Capitals. Rasmus Sandin (8) and Hendrix Lapierre (3) had the helpers.

The Devils answered with a power play goal from Tomas Tatar (3) at 16:31 of the first frame. E. Haula (6) and,L. Hughes (3) had the assists.

The period concluded with the game tied 1-1. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 17-13, high-danger chances, 4-1 and expected goals for 0.40 to 0.21 at even strength.

2ND PERIOD

The Devils took their first lead of the night with a shot from the left point by Brenden Dillon at 7:08. T. Tatar (5) had the lone helper.

The Devils made it 3-1 on a power play goal from Dougie Hamilton at 15:42 of the middle frame. J. Bratt (18) and N. Hischier (11) had the helpers.

The Devils held the two goal lead at the end of the period. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 26-20.

3RD PERIOD

The Capitals cut the Devils lead to a goal with a power play goal from Connor McMichael at 4:54 of the final frame.

But that would be it, as the Devils held on for the 3-2 win.

SHAVINGS (via Capitals PR)

  • Matt Roy scored his first goal as a Capital to give Washington a 1-0 lead. Roy has recorded three points (1g, 2a) in his last six games.
  • Rasmus Sandin tallied the primary assist on Roy’s game-opening goal, his eighth assist of the season. Sandin ranks second among Washington blueliners in points (11) and has recorded six points (3g, 3a) in his last eight games.
  • Connor McMichael scored his 13th goal of the season on the power play to cut the Capitals’ deficit to one goal. McMichael’s 13 goals are tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
  • It marks McMichael’s second power-play goal of the season. McMichael’s 11 even strength goals rank tied for second in the NHL.
  • The Capitals have scored six power-play goals on 13 opportunities (46.2%) over their last seven games.

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.



[ad_2]

Source link

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR