Caps thump Devils

In Washington, DC, Alex Ovechkin struck for a hat trick in a 5-2 win over the visiting New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.

Ovechkin has 31 goals on the season.

Carl Hagelin had a goal for the Capitals – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

“It never gets old, but without my team, without my teammates, I’d never reach [those] milestones, I’d never reach those numbers,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a team effort. It’s still pretty cool. I’m not going to lie.”

Ilya Samsonov made 32 saves in the win.

“I liked our start again,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. “We manage the puck, we establish our forecheck, we get in, we do some really good things where we’re spending time on the offensive zone, they’re icing it. They end up putting some pucks out into the neutral zone just to kind of alleviate pressure, and I thought we were coming at them pretty good.”

Blake Coleman and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Devils.

“We knew they were going to come out because of last game and they’re a good team,” New Jersey coach Alain Nasreddine said. “[We gave them] a little bit too much respect maybe. Played on our heels waiting to see what was going to happen.”

Carl Hagelin and Jakub Vrana added single markers for the Caps.

“They came out ready to play,” Nasreddine said of the Capitals. “They kept it simple. They put it behind our [defensemen]. They went to work. Our execution wasn’t great early on, which gave them extended [offensive]-zone time.”

[WATCH: All Devils vs. Capitals highlights]

Louis Domingue got the ice to start the game and yielded two goals before leaving the game with an injury.

“You can’t dip your toe in,” Travis Zajac said. “I think for probably about a period and a half we played a little timid. Because of that, I don’t think you’re assertive on the ice, your awareness isn’t there, and we gave up a lot of chances early.”

Cory Schneider took the crease in relief and made 20 saves.