I Newark, the New Jersey Devils took the Washington Capitals to overtime on Friday night, before losing 2-1 in the extra session.
Dmitry Orlov had the OT winner for the Washington Capitals
Dmitry Orlov popped the game-winner with just 21 seconds left in the extra session.
“I just got the puck and tried to skate and see what opened up,” Orlov said. “I just tried to shoot it and it went in, so it was a good game by us. We needed that win. It was a great response after two [straight] losses so we just have to build on that.”
Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves to get the win.
“I thought he was sharp all night,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said of Vanecek. “There were a couple breakdowns, but then Vitek was there to bail us out. When things aren’t going well, your goaltender always has the opportunity to settle things down and I thought he did that tonight.”
The Devils dropped to 13-16-6.
“[Vanecek’s] kind of like the Secret Service back there,” the Capitals’ Nick Jensen said. “When we score, he doesn’t get a lot of attention, but that’s a big part of why we win those overtime games because he’s making saves like that.”
John Carlson scored for Washington in regulation to give them a 1-0 lead in the middle frame.
“Those days of defensemen just standing on the blue line and waiting to shoot a puck once in a while, they’re gone,” Laviolette said. “Defensemen are all over the ice now. The game is changing to a five-man attack and you’ve got to be sharp defensively to stop it. But I think certainly our defense has been a big part of it. They’ve contributed a lot of offense this year.
“It was a beautiful goal by ‘Orly’ in overtime to win it, but I think our defense was looking to create the entire night.”
The Devils’ Michael McLeod scored shortly after the Carlson goal to knot it up at 1-1.
The Caps improved to 249-4.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 38 saves in the loss.
“Mackenzie gave us a real sound game and it’s disappointing because I thought we had two or three opportunities in overtime to win him a game,” Devilshead coach Lindy Ruff said. “He made the big save right off the bat within 15 seconds of overtime, so he gave us that opportunity to get those chances a little bit later on. It’s been a battle, an up-and-down season for him, but he’s definitely trending in the right direction for us.”
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