A pair of Metropolitan Division teams take the ice in search of a victory as they match up in the Garden State. The Washington Capitals are on the road as they make the trip up the east coast as they take on the New Jersey Devils Monday night. Washington rallied for a 4-3 victory at home over Los Angeles in their previous contest Saturday night. New Jersey prevailed in a low-scoring affair, beating San Jose 2-1 at home, in their previous game Saturday afternoon. The Capitals have owned the series of late, going 9-0-1 in the last 10 meetings between the teams, including a 4-3 home victory in the most recent matchup on March 26, 2022.
Washington bounced back from a pasting against Ottawa to win for the third time in four games as they rallied to beat the Kings at home Saturday night. The Capitals entered Sunday 3-3-0 and stood tied for fifth in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind the Penguins for the top spot. Washington is tied for 18th in the league in goals per game with 3.17 goals per contest on the year. The Capitals are 25th in the league in goals against as they allow an average of 3.50 goals per contest. Washington is 14th in the league in power play success as they have converted 23.8% of their chances with the man advantage this season. The Capitals are 30th in penalty killing as they successfully navigate through 66.7% of their shorthanded situations this season.
Against Los Angeles, Washington had another sluggish start but managed to rally in the third period to skate off with a home victory. The Capitals held an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal in the opening period but the teams went to the dressing room scoreless after 20 minutes of play. Washington was outshot by an 8-7 margin in the second period and they gave up a pair of goals to trail 2-0 after two periods of play. In the third period, the Capitals owned a 17-13 edge in shots on goal and outscored Los Angeles 4-1 to earn the victory. Nic Dowd got the Capitals on the board with his second of the season at 3:11 off an assist from Nick Jensen to make it a 2-1 game. Only 59 seconds later, at 4:10, John Carlson tied the game with his second of the year with assists going to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov. Lars Eller gave Washington a 3-2 lead with his second of the season at 8:59 off assists from Orlov and Carlson. After the Kings tied the game, Marcus Johansson’s second goal of the year at 14:35 off assists from Orlov and T.J. Oshie proved to be the winner for the Capitals. Darc y Kuemper made 23 saves for Washington, who held a 32-26 advantage in shots on goal, in the victory. He is slated to be between the pipes again for this contest.