The New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals have each collected eight points through their first seven games this season.
They’ve just taken drastically different paths to the same destination.
Both teams will try to build off a win when the Devils visit the Capitals on Saturday afternoon, in the first meeting of the season between the Metropolitan Division rivals.
The Devils continued their hot-and-cold start Thursday night, when they cruised past the visiting New York Rangers 7-1. The Capitals have been off since Wednesday night, when they started a five-game homestand by edging the Montreal Canadiens 5-4.
The rout of the Rangers — who had outscored opponents 27-14 while winning six of their first eight games — was the second straight win for New Jersey, which edged the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Jack Hughes’ overtime goal Tuesday night.
The 12 goals in the last two games are one more than the Devils managed to score in their first five games this season. They also matched their highest two-game total since Oct. 27-30, 2024, when they beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 before blanking the Vancouver Canucks 6-0.
The seven-goal outburst Thursday also was just the second time the Devils have scored more than six goals in a game since the start of the 2024-25 season. New Jersey beat the Capitals 7-3 on April 2.
“We knew it (was) a big game,” said Devils captain Nico Hischier, who scored the third goal in New Jersey’s game-opening six-goal flurry. “I think the Rangers come in here feeling good and we are still trying to find our game. That one felt good. So we came out, executed and did what we wanted to do and played a 60-minute game.”
Luke Hughes scored twice against the Rangers and Evan Rodrigues added one goal apiece against Detroit and New York.
The Capitals halted a two-game losing streak Wednesday against Montreal. Justin Holl snapped a 3-3 tie at 12:29 of the third period, and Alex Tuch scored the eventual game-winner with 2:55 remaining. It was his second goal of the night, both unassisted. The one-goal win was the Capitals’ closest game of the season.
The third-period rally continued an early-season trend for the Capitals. They have outscored opponents 4-2 in the final 20 minutes of their four wins while being outscored 5-1 in the third period of their three defeats.
The victory also improved Washington to 3-1-0 at home while providing some momentum for the first of two five-game homestands this season. The Capitals will also play five straight home games from Feb. 14-23.
“Try to string some wins at home,” said Tuch, who already has two multi-goal games in his first season with the Capitals following an offseason trade from the Buffalo Sabres. “You feel like you’re still kind of finding the way you want to go. You know how you want to play, but getting to it (is challenging).”