Friday, the New Jersey Devils look to stay hot against the Washington Capitals.

The Devils are currently 35-31-2 after defeating the New York Rangers on Wednesday. The Capitals are 34-27-8, they’ve gone just 5-4-1 in their 10 games coming out of the Olympic break. 

Match Overview

Interestingly, the Capitals have four more points than the Devils despite the fact they’ve won one less game. 

Washington has been a strange team this season, being both top five five-on-five expected goals percentage (xG%) and five-on-five goals percentage (G%), and the best net-minder this season by goals saved above expected in Logan Thompson. Yet, they barely crack the top 20 in the NHL in points percentage (P%) and are only sixth in the Metropolitan Division. Their power play being 27th has hurt them dearly.

Lines and Pairings

Devils

Forwards

Meier-Hischier-Mercer

Bratt-Hughes-Brown

Gritsyuk-Glass-Hameenaho

Cotter-Bjugstad-Tsyplakov

Defense

Hughes-Kovacevic

Siegenthaler-Hamilton

Dillon-Nemec

Goalies

Markstrom

Allen

Capitals

Forwards

Ovechkin-Strome-Beauvillier

Protas-Dubois-Wilson

McMichael-Sourdif-Leonard

Duhaime-Lapierre-Frank

Defense

Chychrun-Van Riemsdyk

Hutson-Roy

Fehervary-Sandin

Goalies

Thompson

Lindgren

What to Watch

Ovi’s Last Stand?

While there was speculation that this could be Alex Ovechkin’s final season in the NHL, the fact we have no formal announcement yet most likely means he will run it back for at least another year in 2026. In 69 games this season, Ovechkin has 25 goals and 52 points.

Hot in Capital One

The Devils have been just fine against the Capitals overall, but great in Washington D..C. Since 2021-22, New Jersey is 7-2-0 against the Capitals on the road.

Where To Watch

Puck drop for tonight’s game is set for 7:00 pm ET and can be found on MSG SportsNet.