The New Jersey Devils hosted the Washington Capitals Monday evening. The Washington Capitals joined the Devils at Prudential with their current 3-3 record for the season. While they came with the intention to win, The New Jersey Devils seemed to have other plans that, unfortunately, fell through. Starting the first period with the goalkeeper, #29 Mackenzie Blackwood, left wing #18 Ondrej Palat, center #13 Nico Hischier, right wing #63 Jesper Bratt, defenseman #6 John Marino, and #33 Ryan Graves also a defenseman. Mackenzie Blackwood got his first big stop in the first period! As the Capitals almost scored, Mackenzie kept his goal under control. In the first 5 minutes of the period, Nathan Bastian got his first goal of the season. John Marino and Michael McLeod assisted with the goal. Nathan Bastian, 24 years old, entered the NHL draft at only 18 years old. Nathan has shown he is an asset to the NJ Devils in more ways than just scoring. Being one of the younger players may be a challenge, but he uses it to his advantage. Mackenzie Blackwood, while guarding his position as best as possible, Nic Dowd came in with a goal for the Capitals with 7:51 in the 1st period. This ended the first period tied with a score of 1-1.

The New Jersey Devils won the faceoff to start the second period. Kevin Bahl received his 13th penalty minute for the season, which is more than double any other Devils’ player. Dougie Hamilton was Goalkeeper for the second period, making sure that absolutely nothing crossed his line of vision until #21 Garnet Hathaway scored with the snapshot. Moments later, Conor Sheary took the snapshot with no assists. The NJ Devils are down 3-1 with 8:10 left in the 2nd period. #13 got the penalty boarding against the Capitals. The Capitals scored another goal by Alex Ovechkin, assisted by John Carlson and Dylan Strome. With only three minutes left in the period, Nick Jensen came in with the Wrist Shot and Martin Fehervary with the assist. Ending the 2nd Period with a score of 5-1. With the Washington Capitals in the lead and only 20 minutes left of the game, would the devils have enough time to catch up?

Only 4 minutes into the 3rd period, Thomas Tatar had the Snapshot, assisted by Dougie Hamilton. This was Thomas’ first goal of the season. This could have pushed the Devils back into the lead for this game. With only 9:48 left in the game, #63 Jesper Bratt had the snapshot, bringing the score to 5-3. This was #63’s first goal of the season. Although the score was not what was expected out of the Devils, there were a lot of first-season goals in this game. This brings a spotlight to all those players. The Devils are proving it is a great season to be expected moving forward. With only 3:39 left in the game, the Capitals (Alexei Protas) scored again with a backhand shot making the score 6-3. The final score for The New Jersey Devils against the Washington Capitals ended 3-6. As some may see this as a loss, it will only push the NJ Devils to go harder this season. This leaves The New Jersey Devils with a record of 3-3 for the season and only progressive games moving forward.

POST-GAME WITH LINDY RUFF:

“Where we could’ve gained momentum in the game, we lost it.” -Lindy Ruff.

“Can you coach finishing or is that something that comes from the players?”

- “I think we try to include cutting tight, down low, cut backs, where to shoot, and go up top in our practices. We had them on their heels in the first half 1-1 but we’ll get there. It’s just don't get frustrated, or don't overstay by the goal or don’t start cheating because you missed the opportunity.”

“What more do you want to see out of Jack Hughes?”

- “Jack had a rough game, there's certain situations where you can end up overhandling, or the pucks gotta get deep. It was a tight game still, we lost some of our discipline with our defensive zone play. He was part of that. He’s getting the chances, but in the games where you don’t get the chance or don’t have your A game, you have to go to your B game. Which is a game that is much simpler. We create a lot of pressure, so advice would be to keep creating that pressure anddon’t feel their offense.”