WASHINGTON, DC – Instead of letting Jack Hughes’s absence from the Devils’ lineup cast a shadow, New Jersey found itself leaning on one another to get the job done. As lines shifted, new power play units were set, and a new cast of characters hit the ice, the Devils had to find a new rhythm as well. It wasn’t perfect, but it got the job done.
After seeing a 2-0 lead slip away in the third period, the Devils grinded their way through setting up another opportunity for Simon Nemec to play hero. Nemec scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Devils a 3-2 win in Washington.
“Good teams find a way and we’ve got to hold the fort for (Jack),” captain Nico Hischier said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here, and I think everybody bought in and that’s why we got a grindy win, that’s important for morale.”
First to strike was Arseny Gritsyuk, a rocket of a slap shot on the power play, zipping by Logan Thompson in the Capitals’ net. Then, Luke Hughes doubled the Devils’ lead, dancing the blueline before sending a snap shot past into the net from atop the right circle.
The Devils held their 2-0 lead until the opening minute of the third period when Capitals Connor McMichael took advantage of Jake Allen losing his stick and opening Washington’s scoring. Alexander Ovechkin tied the game at 8:29 of the third to send the game to overtime, before Nemec won the game in the shootout.
“It was a grindy win,” captain Nico Hischier said. “We were grinding really hard and adversity is hitting us and it’s good to have that road win.”
• Simon Nemec has been on a remarkable run. In the past three games he’s scored five goals – the shootout winner included, although those don’t show up on the official stats list. Nemec scored the game-tying goal against the Islanders and a hat trick in Chicago, before adding his shootout winner tonight.
“When Sheldon said I’m up (in the shootout), in my head I’m like, I’ve just got one move, so just go and try it and it worked,” Nemec said. “I’m happy for that.”
“He’s feeling it,” Keefe said of his decision to give Nemec the opportunity in the shootout, “But I also felt we needed a right handed shot to give the goaltender a different look. That was it. And you’re looking at righties, and we don’t have a ton of options there, and Nemo is feeling it, so why not?”
• Without Hughes, the Devils had revamped power play units:
PP1: Nemec, Hischier, Bratt, Meier and Mercer
PP2: Luke Hughes, Gritsyuk, Palat, Cotter and Noesen
Gritsyuk scored the opening goal of the game on the power play, which went 1-for-3 against the Caps, all three Washington penalties coming in the opening 7 minutes of the game.
• Prior to the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe gave some injury updates, with Zack MacEwen and Cody Glass both having traveled back to New Jersey for further evaluation on their injuries sustained in Chicago. Keefe mentioned that MacEwen will be out for “an extended period of time” while Cody Glass is out week-to-week. With both theirs and Hughes’s absence, three lineup spots opened.
The Devils had made two callups prior to the game, Shane Lachance and Nathan Légaré, who both played their first games of the season. For Lachance, it was his NHL debut.
Légaré finished the night with 9:26 of ice time and was bumped up to the third line to play with Ondrej Palat and Juho Lammikko for parts of the game, while Lachance played seven minutes in his debut.
“Guys like Légaré and Lachance coming in today, we need minutes from these guys,” Keefe said. “This game we played tonight is two steps faster than the game we played in Chicago. It was a different league out there today. You can’t get by if you’re not using six defensemen and four lines. We need minutes from those guys and everybody contributed in their own way and that’s what you need. That’s a team win. Full marks for our guys.”
Juho Lammikko re-entered the Devils’ lineup, playing the third-line center role.
• The Devils played their first game this season without forward Jack Hughes. He is expected to miss two months of action after undergoing surgery on his finger. In Hughes’s absence, Jesper Bratt was wearing the ‘A’ on his jersey as an alternate captain alongside Ondrej Palat. Bratt also wore the A in Hughes’s absence last season.
• In a scary incident, Alex Ovechkin threw Jesper Bratt into the boards in the far corner of the Capitals’ net at the tail end of the first period. Bratt lay on the ice while the play continued momentarily. It was one of the more bizarre moments as the Devils capped off the play seconds after Bratt fell to the ice with a goal by Luke Hughes. Instead of celebrating, Hughes went right from the follow-through of his snapshot to Bratt’s aid, putting his hand up to call for team trainers. Bratt was attended to on the ice, eventually making his way to the bench on his own accord. There was no celebration when Luke Hughes scored the Devils’ second goal, assisted by Bratt and Brenden Dillon, with Bratt still lying on the ice.
Bratt’s teammates immediately called for the athletic trainer, who came to his aid. Bratt was able to skate off on his own and remained on the Devils bench.
• The Devils played in their fifth straight overtime. Only two other times in franchise history has the team played five straight overtime games. Both previous times came during the 1995-96 season.
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