Vladislav Kolyachonok scored his first goal of the season to break a third-period tie, leading the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday at Prudential Center.
The teams traded power-play goals in the opening frame. Evan Rodrigues struck first for New Jersey just 2:20 into the contest with a snap shot assisted by Timo Meier and Arseny Gritsyuk. Washington answered at 14:10 when Ryan Leonard converted on a backhand off a setup from Cole Hutson to make it 1-1.
Pierre-Luc Dubois gave the Capitals their only lead 2:11 into the second period, beating the goaltender with a snap shot assisted by Aliaksei Protas and Jack St. Ivany. The Devils responded at 9:51 of the second when Lenni Hameenaho deflected a puck into the net for his first goal of the season, with Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass collecting the assists.
Kolyachonok put New Jersey ahead for good at 6:27 of the third period with a wrist shot set up by Rodrigues. Stefan Noesen added insurance at 17:07 on a backhand assisted by Connor Brown, and Jack Hughes sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 19:15 with assists from Gritsyuk and Jesper Bratt.
Connor Hellebuyck earned the win for the Devils by stopping 26 of 28 shots, while Logan Thompson made 24 saves on 28 shots in the loss for Washington. New Jersey finished 1 for 3 on the power play, and the Capitals scored on one of their two man advantages.
The victory improved New Jersey to 14-6-0 on the season and leveled the season series against Washington at one game apiece. The Capitals dropped to 10-7-0 following the loss.
Both teams will face each other again in their next game, with the Capitals hosting the Devils on Saturday at 7:00 PM ET.
