| Washington Capitals vs New Jersey Devils | ||||
| Team | P1 | P2 | P3 | Total |
 Washington Capitals | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
 New Jersey Devils | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Current Status: Final | ||||
Plus: The Washington Capitals’ offense was humming tonight, a particularly impressive feat knowing that the New Jersey Devils allowed just nine goals in their last five games. The Caps scored in the opening five minutes of all three periods, which was essential to keeping their momentum going. They also scored at least four goals in two consecutive games, a hopefully encouraging sign of things to come.
Minus: Nic Dowd was absent from the Capitals’ bench to start the second period—he left the game late in the first, and he was reportedly being evaluated in the locker room. With just under seven minutes to go in the second, the Caps announced that Dowd would not return tonight after sustaining an upper-body injury. Fingers crossed this is something minor, because a serious injury would be, in scientific terms, Really Really Bad News.
Key Moment: This goal from Connor McMichael was simply ridiculous, and it restored a Caps’ lead that they did not surrender again.
Caps Player of the Game: Who else but Connor McMichael? He opened the scoring for the Capitals just 39 seconds into the game, and then scored that absolute beauty of a goal in the second. With two goals tonight, McMichael recorded the first multi-goal game of his career.
Final Thoughts: It feels like people have been saying this for a while, but this was a pretty important game for the Capitals tonight. Metro Division matchups are always key, but the Caps were only four points behind the Devils for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference coming into tonight. Washington is still pushing for the playoffs, and keeping their momentum going from Saturday’s win in Montreal was vital for that. All in all, a very impressive showing from the Capitals.
Up next for the Washington Capitals: a trip to Tampa to face the Lightning on Thursday, February 22 at 7pm ET.