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Capitals fall 5-3 to Devils in season opener; Score by John Carlson, Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson

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Capitals fall 5-3 to Devils in season opener; Score by John Carlson, Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals lost to the New Jersey Devils 5-3 in their 2024/25 season opener on Saturday evening at Capital One Arena in the District.

After fending off two power play plays from the Devils in the first half of the first period, the Capitals opened the scoring with a power play goal John Carlson. However, the Devils quickly responded with two tallies Seamus Casey And Paul Cotter for a 2-1 lead at the first break.

The Capitals tied the game just 32 seconds into the middle stanza with a goal from close range Dylan Strome, but the Devils answered just over three minutes later with a tally of Tomas Tatar to restore their one-goal lead 3-2. They extended their lead to two goals Paul Cotterscored the second goal of the game and held the 4-2 lead until the second break.

Tom Wilson Shortened the Devils' lead to 4:3 after just 1:35 of the final period. But that's it. The Devils held off the Capitals and scored an empty goal to make the final score 5-3.

RESOLUTIONS

Charlie Lindgren (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 sv%) got the start of the Capitals' season opener. Jacob Markstrom (1-1-0, 2.55 GAA, 0.906 SV%) caught the visiting Devils between the sticks in their fourth game of the season. The Capitals' starting forward and defensive pairings:

Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Andrew Mangiapane
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano – Hendrix Lapierre – Aliaksei Protas
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh

Jacob Chychrun – John Carlson
Martin Fehervary – Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Reimsdyk

Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson

scratch: Jakub Vrana, Alex Alexeyev, Dylan McIlrath

FIRST TIME

The Capitals suffered two penalties in the first half of the first frame, keeping the game scoreless. The Capitals would tie the knot 10 seconds into their first power play on a bomb from the blueline John Carlson (1) at 10:48. Pierre-Luc Dubois (1) was the main helper. Dylan Strome had the second assist.

The Devils quickly responded with a goal Seamus Casey There are just over six minutes left in the first third. J. Bratt (2) and T. Meier (1) were the helpers.

The Devils took their first lead of the night with 3:36 left in the first period. Paul Cotter (3) notched the start marker. S. Noesen (2) and E. Haula (2) were the helpers.

The Devils maintained the 2-1 lead until the first break. The Devils led 19-16 on 5-on-5 shot attempts in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD

The Capitals tied the game early in the second period. Dylan Strome He equalized after just 32 seconds in the middle frame. John Carlson (1) and Alex Ovechkin (1) had helpers.

But the Devils answered back. Tomas Tatar (1) scored the lead at 3:56 of the second period to make it 3-2. S. Noesen (3) and E. Haula (3) had the assists.

Capitals defender Matt Roy suffered a lower body injury and did not return to the game tonight.

The Devils made the final score 4-2 Paul CotterThe second goal of the night came at 1:38 p.m. of the second period. S. Noesen (4) and E. Haula (4) had the assists.

The period ended with the Devils leading 4-2. The Devils led 38-35 in 5-on-5 shot attempts after two periods. The Milano-Lapierre-Protas line was -3 after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Capitals cut the Devils' lead to one goal thanks to a beautiful pass from Connor McMichael (1) behind the goal Tom Wilson (1) in the counting time slot at 1:35 of the third period.

But that would be all the Capitals could score in terms of points. The Devils added an empty-net goal for a 5-3 win.


CHIPS (by Capitals PR)

  • John Carlson, the leader in goals (152) among defensemen, is now two goals behind Dave Ellett (153), who has the 10th-most goals by a U.S.-born defenseman in NHL history.
  • Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his first point as a Capital on Carlson's power play goal. Dubois is now two assists shy of 200 assists in his career.
  • Dylan Strome provided the second assist on Carlson's goal. Strome led the Capitals in points in 2023-24 (27g-40a-67p in 82 GP) and became the first player other than Alex Ovechkin to finish an 82-game season as Washington's points leader since Nicklas Backstrom in 2016-17.
  • Dylan Strome scores his first goal of the season and gets his second point of the game (1g, 1a) to make it 1-1. Since joining Washington before the 2022-23 season, Strome ranks first on the Capitals in games played (164) and assists (83) and second in goals (51) and points (134).
  • John Carlson scored the first assist on Strome's goal, his second point of the game (1g, 1a). Carlson scored 46 points (11g, 35a) in 58 career games against New Jersey, the most points scored against a single franchise.
  • Alex Ovechkin scored the second assist on Strome's goal, his first point of the season. Ovechkin is now two assists short of 700 assists in his career.
  • Tom Wilson scores his first goal of the season and reduces the deficit to 4:3. Wilson has scored 24 points (7g, 17a) in 43 career games against New Jersey, the most points he has scored against a single opponent.
  • Connor McMichael scored his first point of the season on Wilson's goal. McMichael set career highs in goals (18), assists (15), points (33) and games played (80) in the 2023-24 season.

Capitals postgame audio

Striker Tom Wilson

Striker Dylan Strome

Defense attorney John Carlson

Goalkeeper Charlie Lindgren

Head Coach Spencer Carbery

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one and attended his first game at the Capital Center in 1974. His interest in the Caps grew over the decades to include time as a season ticket holder. He has been with the team as a journalist for more than 10 years, primarily focusing on analytics, analysis and prospect development.

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