Capitals Drop Devils, 4-2; Evgeny Kuznetsov Scores Twice, Beck Malenstyn And Nicolas Aube-Kubel Score First Goals Of The Season

Photo: X/@Capitals

The Washington Capitals downed the New Jersey Devils, 4-2 Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Beck Malenstyn scored their first goals of the season and Evgeny Kuznetsov tallied twice in the victory. The win improves the Capitals record to 6-4-2 on the season.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (1-1-0, 2.51 GAA, .929 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Capitals. Vitek Vanecek (6-3-0, 3.29 GAA, .893 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Devils. The Capitals forward lines and defensive pairs:

Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano – Dylan Strome – T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Matthew Phillips
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

 Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Nick Jensen
Hardy Häman Aktell – Lucas Johansen

 Charlie Lindgren
Hunter Shepard

Scratches:, Forward Hendrix Lapierre, Defenseman Alex Alexeyev, Darcy Kuemper.

Injuries: Forward Anthony Mantha (upper body injury), Defensemen Trevor van Riemsdyk, Joel Edmundson (hand; long-term injured reserve), and forward Max Pacioretty (Achilles; long-term injured reserve)

FIRST PERIOD

The Capitals opened the scoring midway through the first period on a tally from Nicolas Aube-Kubel with 9:38 remaining in the period. Aube-Kubel was recalled from AHL Hershey earlier in the day. Rasmus Sandin (2) and Sonny Milano (2) had the helpers.

what a beauty pic.twitter.com/f6KOEzpJPt

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 11, 2023

The Capitals quickly made it 2-0 just 15 seconds later on a shot from the right side by Beck Malenstyn at 10:37 of the opening stanza. Nicolas Aube-Kubel (1) and Martin Fehervary (2) had the assists.

back-to-beck goals pic.twitter.com/YWhRdc5sGT

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 11, 2023

Vítek Vanecek was pulled by the Devils after the second goal and replaced by Akira Schmid.

The Capitals would hold the 2-0 lead at the first intermission. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 13-8, with the Devils leading in xGF .39 to .23.

SECOND PERIOD

The Capitals made 3-0 early in the middle frame on a breakaway tally from Evgeny Kuznetsov (2) at 6:34. Tom Wilson (4) and Alex Ovechkin (7) had the helpers.

SCOARRR pic.twitter.com/4df6GMipd8

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 11, 2023

And that was it for the middle frame, with Capitals holding the 3-0 lead at the second intermission. Defenseman Martin Fehervary sustained a lower body injury and did not return to the game.

THIRD PERIOD

The Devils cut the Capitals lead to 3-1 with a tally from Timo Meier (4) at 7:13 of the final frame.

The Devils quickly made it a one goal game just 1:59 later with a marker from Dawson Mercer at 9:12 of the third period.

Evgeny Kuznetsov added an empty goal late to make it 4-2. That would be the final.

SHAVINGS

• Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who made his season debut tonight against New Jersey, scored his first goal of the season to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Aube-Kubel registered 12 points (4g, 8a) in 47 games with Washington last season.
• Beck Malenstyn scored his first goal goal of the season and third of his career to extend the lead to 2-0. Two of Malenstyn’s four career points have come against New Jersey (1g, 1a).
• Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his second goal of the season to extend the Capitals’ lead to 3-0. With the goal, Kuznetsov passes Dale Hunter (556) for the seventh-most points in franchise history.
• Capitals are 5-1-1 in last seven games.
• The Capitals improve to 2-0-0 this season against New Jersey and 13-3-1 in their last 17 games at Prudential Center. In addition, Washington is 28-4-5 in their last 37 games against the Devils dating back to the 2015-16 season.
• The Capitals have killed off 17 straight opposing power-play opportunities over their last seven games.
• Charlie Lindgren stopped 24 of 26 shots faced against New Jersey to earn his second win of the season. In three games this season, Lindgren has a record of 2-1-0 with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
• Nic Dowd’s first game since October 16.