Washington Capitals Beat New Jersey Devils 2-1 As Goalies Give Strong Efforts
On Friday, March 20, the Washington Capitals took a close 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, with a final score of 2-1. Capitals Goalkeeper Logan Thompson was able to fend off 30 shots on goal, including four from Olympic gold medalist Jack Hughes. Ryan Leonard and Aliaksei Protas scored for the Capitals, while Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils. New Jersey goalkeeper Jake Allen made 26 saves, nearly matching Thompson.
The win is important for the Capitals, who are now ever closer to a wild-card playoff spot, with the Devils one spot below them in the Metropolitan Division. It is worth noting that neither team has a particularly strong chance of making the playoffs, and both are well behind the Carolina Hurricanes.
Capitals Take the Lead
It didn’t take too long for the Capitals to score, with Leonard scoring with 10:25 left in the first period. Brandon Duhaime and Trevor van Riemsdyk recorded assists. Neither team was exceptionally dominant in the first period, with Washington taking 8 shots and New Jersey just 5.
Offense on both sides was stymied by strong opposing defense. The goal was Leonard’s 15th on the season, and he is the first rookie since Alex Ovechkin to score 15 goals in his first season. He is currently tied for sixth among all NHL rookies.
The Devils were coming off a stretch of four multi-goal games, while the Capitals had beaten the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on March 18. Hughes, who has scored 18 goals this season, had two shots blocked by Thompson, while Ovechkin could not score on two shots on goal. Ovechkin is on 999 combined goals in the regular season and postseason, and one more would put him up with only the legendary Wayne Gretzky (who scored 1,016 combined career goals).
The Devils took 24 shots in the second period, and the Capitals took 16. Two of those came from young Defenseman Cole Hutson in only his second NHL game. Hutson’s dynamism, scoring a goal versus the Senators on March 18, is a great sign for a team that just traded longtime defenseman John Carlson after 17 seasons.
With Ovechkin stating some doubts about his future with the Washington, D.C. team following this season, the young defenseman, who is also a prolific goal scorer, will be a key part of the Capitals’ future.
Devils Make a Literal Last-Minute Push
The third period was a very different story. The Devils won the initial faceoff and dominated play, recording 29 shots without success. Thompson saved an incredible 16 shots on goal, two coming from Hughes (and two from younger brother Luke), while Allen was excellent as well and wasn’t in the goal to stop Protas when he scored 18:17 into the third period. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson were credited with the assist.
The Capitals managed the goal in a period where they recorded 12 shots on goal, 4 of those coming from Duhaime in 30 seconds. The teams were quite balanced defensively and traded off the advantage in terms of offense as the periods went by.
The Devils’ Bratt was the only player to get past Thompson all game, his goal coming with 43 seconds left in the game. Jack Hughes recorded the assist. Neither team got a shot in the rest of regular time, and the Capitals took an important win. The Capitals and the Devils had met two times before during the 2025-2026 season, with Washington winning 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 27 and New Jersey winning 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 15.
Wrapping It Up
The Capitals will end a four-game stretch at home on March 22 against the Colorado Avalanche, while the Devils travel to play the Dallas Stars on March 24.
