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Devils Complete Sweep as Capitals' Strong Five‑on‑Five Numbers Fail to Win Games

Coach Spencer Carbery said the team must stop making 'catastrophic mistakes' after poor goaltending, breakdowns in a man‑to‑man defensive scheme and weak special teams left Washington needing fixes.

Overview

  • The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals 7-4 on Saturday to complete a two-game home‑and‑home sweep that left Washington 10-8-0.
  • At five‑on‑five the Capitals dominated chances and expected goals but were only even on five‑on‑five scoring, showing a metrics-versus-result disconnect in the final score.
  • Starter Charlie Lindgren allowed six goals on 32 shots and, per MoneyPuck, surrendered roughly 2.04 more goals than expected, a glaring extension of Washington’s early-season goaltending woes.
  • Washington’s special teams compounded the problem with a 22nd-ranked power play (about 20%) and a 20th-ranked penalty kill (roughly 75.4%), and a Connor Brown kicked puck stood after review and factored into the game.
  • Rookie defenseman Cole Hutson had three assists and leads NHL rookies in points, but Carbery has demanded immediate habit- and detail-level corrections to stabilize netminding, fix the man‑to‑man zone coverage and stop costly mistakes that are turning good underlying play into losses.