NEWARK, N.J. – Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout and Martin Brodeur made an outstanding glove save on Alex Ovechkin as the New Jersey Devils, after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period, beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Friday night.
Kovalchuk had a goal and an assist in regulation and Alexander Urbom and Adam Henrique scored the other goals for the Devils, who won for the fifth time in six games.
Jason Chimera scored twice and Brooks Laich once for the Capitals in the third period.
Kovalchuk scored on a wrist shot in the shootout to give New Jersey the lead and Elias snapped one past Michal Neuvirth moments after Brodeur kept Washington off the board with a glove save on Ovechkin's bullet.
Nicklas Backstrom missed on Washington's first shootout attempt, just after Kovalchuk scored. Zach Parise missed the net on the Devils' second shot.
This marked the second straight game in which the Devils gave up three third-period goals. It cost them against the Rangers on Tuesday in a 4-1 loss.
This time New Jersey got away with it, although the Capitals picked up a point they probably should not have had.
Washington seemed to be out of the game after falling behind 3-0 in the second period and having the added frustration of having three shots hit the post.
That didn't stop them. Laich put the Caps on the board with a backhander in close at 3:48 and Chimera then took over after a shot by Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov hit off the post with a little less than 8 minutes to play.
Chimera got the Capitals within a goal with 7:16 left by jamming a loose puck past Brodeur in a goal-mouth scramble and he tied the game with 1:42 to go in regulation after taking a no-look, backhand pass from Laich and depositing the puck into an empty net.
The Devils scored twice in the opening 4:57 of the second period, and remarkably it was their power play which put the first goal on the board.
Coming into the game, New Jersey had not scored a power-play goal at home since Nov. 2, failing to capitalize on 31 consecutive extra-man chances. The streak reached 32 before Kovalchuk took a pass from defenseman Kurtis Foster near the point and ripped a shot that Neuvirth could not handle at 2:20.
Urbom, recalled from the minors recently with Matt Taormina, got his second career goal a little more than 2 minutes later with the teams playing 4-on-4.
Urbom sent the puck from the left point around the boards and Kovalchuk collected it in the right corner. He quickly found Travis Zajac low in the circle and the center made a nifty pass to Urbom coming in from the point. The 21-year-old defenseman deked Neuvirth out of position and fired the puck into an open net for a 2-0 lead.
Taormina got the primary assist on Henrique's ninth goal of the season. He took a pass from Elias at the point and his shot was redirected by Henrique into the net at 10:08.
Washington, which had only 13 shots in the first two periods, had a couple of chances to get back in the game in the final 10 minutes of the second period, only to be stopped three times by the iron.
Backstrom, who was looking for his 100th career goal, hit the right post twice in a span of 3 seconds and Alexander Semin clanged one off the crossbar with just more than 3 minutes left in the period after being set up by Backstrom.
NOTES: Washington had not allowed a power-play goal in its last five games. ... New Jersey was also without rookie defenseman Adam Larsson, who returned to Sweden to attend his grandmother's funeral, and defenseman Henrik Tallinder, who has missed four games in a row with back spasms. ... Washington is 1-0-2 against New Jersey this season.
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