In a game that saw Washington Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin score his 700th career goal, the New Jersey Devils came away with an upset win.
- Washington Capitals 2 (37-18-6, 80 pts)
- New Jersey Devils 3 (24-17-10, 58 pts)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
The New Jersey Devils scored an upset victory over the first-place Washington Capitals on a historic day at the Prudential Center.
Capitals legend and future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin scored his 700th career goal, but it would not be enough for his team to earn a victory over last-place New Jersey.
The Devils opened the scoring 12:55 into the first period when Jesper Bratt faked out Washington goaltender Ilya Samsonov for a breakaway goal.
https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1231286758161231872
Later in the second period, New Jersey extended their lead to two as Wayne Simmonds tapped in the Devils’ second goal of the day.
https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1231301462556323841
Washington would answer quickly. Shortly after Simmonds goal, Tom Wilson found the back of the net for the Capitals to cut the lead to 2-1.
History was made 4:50 into the third period when Ovechkin tied the game with career goal No. 700. With that goal, he becomes just the eighth player to reach that plateau.
NUMBER 700 FOR THE GREAT 8! ?
The @Capitals mob Alex Ovechkin on the ice. #WSHvsNJD pic.twitter.com/nlLzbHefWN
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) February 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1231310826478460929
With the game tied at two, overtime appeared imminent. New Jersey’s Damon Severson had other plans, taking advantage of a five-on-three advantage to score the game-winning goal.
https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1231318966624227330
With the win, New Jersey goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood earned his sixth straight win to move within one of Sean Burke (1987-1988) for the franchise record.
With the win, New Jersey goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood earned his sixth-straight win to move within one of Sean Burke (1987-1988) for the franchise record.
The loss prevented the Capitals from overtaking full possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division. Ovechkin and company are still knotted atop the division with the Pittsburgh Penguins for now.
New Jersey will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to the Motor City to take on the Detroit Red Wings (7:30 p.m. ET).
