Game #36 Recap: Caps 5 New Jersey 1

After ending their long losing streak the Capitals took it to the New Jersey Devils 5-1 last night. For Washington it was a slow methodical start but that is a big improvement over the last couple of weeks. Andrew Gordon collected his first NHL goal late in the first period on a great hustle play from Marcus Johansson. Johansson chased down the puck in the New Jersey end and centered to Gordon who crashed the net and put the puck between the pads of Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur. New Jersey came out strong at the beginning of the second period forcing two Washington penalties in the first 5 minutes. The Caps killed off the first power play but the Devils tied the game with a goal on the second. From then on it was all Washington. Another Hershey call up, Jay Beagle, put the Caps ahead for good when he scored from the top of the crease on a setup from David Steckel. Jason Chimera broke out of a lengthy goal scoring drought with a superb effort. Using his speed, Chimera got in behind the defense at the blue line and while being hacked, whacked, and hooked managed to roof a shot into the net. I am pretty sure that he would have been given a penalty shot if the shot hadn't gone in. The Capitals continued to press and John Carlson fired a missile of a slap shot for his 4th goal of the season and Washington went to the locker room with a 4-1 advantage. Both teams played the third a bit looser and Mike Knuble scored a Mike Knuble type goal as he deflected a Tom Poti shot into the net from about three feet out. The Caps will now start preparing for the Penguins who come to the Verizon Center on Thursday.

Of Note:

• Andrew Gordon was the game's #2 star with 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 blocked shots and a +2 rating. Not bad kid, keep it up.
• Michael Neuvirth was solid in net. He stopped 35 of 36 shots for his 14th win of the season.
• John Carlson, the game's #1 star, had a 2 point night with 1 goal and 1 assist. He also had 2 blocked shots and a +4 rating on the night.
• The Caps failed to convert on 5 power play attempts and the penalty killers gave up 1 goal on 4 attempts.
• 12 of the 18 Capital skaters recorded points in the game. Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin were not among them.
• The Caps had a combined +25 rating in the game. Mike Green and Scott Hannan, who were both even, were the only skaters without a positive rating.
• So far this season the second period has been the best period for the Capitals. They have scored 43 goals in the 2nd versus 24 in the 1st and 36 in the 3rd.

Official Recap
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