Evan Rodrigues scored twice as the New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals 7-4 on Saturday night at Capital One Arena.
Pierre-Luc Dubois opened the scoring at 5:13 of the first period, with assists from Jakob Chychrun and Aliaksei Protas. Lenni Hameenaho tied it 1-1 at 8:15 of the first period. Ryan Leonard put the Capitals ahead 2-1 at 14:34 of the first period. Connor Brown tied it 2-2 on the power play at 17:08 of the first period. Anthony Beauvillier put the Capitals ahead 3-2 at 18:40 of the first period. Jesper Boqvist tied it 3-3 at 10:33 of the second period.
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Timo Meier put the Devils ahead 4-3 on the power play at 16:18 of the second period, with assists from Arseny Gritsyuk and Luke Evangelista. Nico Hischier made it 5-3 short-handed at 0:56 of the third period. Ilya Protas pulled the Capitals within 5-4 on the power play at 1:22 of the third period. Rodrigues made it 6-4 at 3:18 of the third period. Rodrigues made it 7-4 into an empty net at 16:45 of the third period.
For New Jersey, Hameenaho had a goal and two assists, Boqvist had a goal and two assists, Brown had a goal and two assists, Meier and Hischier each scored, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 43 of 47 shots.
For Washington, Cole Hutson had three assists, Leonard had a goal and an assist, Dubois, Beauvillier and Protas each scored, and Charlie Lindgren stopped 26 of 32 shots.
Washington outshot New Jersey 47-33. New Jersey went 2 for 4 on the power play, and Washington went 1 for 4. The Devils improved to 15-6-0. The Capitals dropped to 10-8-0.
The Devils are second in the Eastern Conference and have won two straight. The Capitals sit ninth in the Eastern Conference and have lost two straight. The Devils lead the season series 2-1.
The Devils are back in action when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Capitals next visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
