Playing in the nation’s capital for the first time this season, the New Jersey Devils were defeated by the Washington Capitals 3-2.  In better news, Bill shares his thoughts on the New Jersey Devils Ice Hockey Program.

The Devils lost their second consecutive game, first in regulation, after securing points in 10 straight (9-0-1).  The Capitals, who are statistically tied for last place in the league, played with the enthusiasm and poise of a veteran team, and got some help from the referees tonight in their decisive victory.

The Devils quickly got on the board in the opening period after defenseman Paul Martin managed to keep the puck in the Capitals zone.

Brian Gionta backhanded the puck to a cutting John Madden, who beat Caps goaltender Olaf Kolzig, making his 23^rd start of the season.  Madden’s eighth was assisted by Gionta and Danius Zubrus.

However, less than 90 seconds later, Karel Rachunek committed a costly tripping penalty.

Washington capitalized on the ensuing power play, netting the equalizer on Nicklas Backstrom’s fourth from Viktor Kozlov and Tom Poti.

Kozlov had spent one season in New Jersey a few years back, where he tallied 25 points in 69 games played.

As the first period came to a close netted at one apiece, the Devils had more shots on goal than the Caps, 11-9, but didn’t take advantage of their two power play chances.

There was also a brief “fight” in the first between Sheldon Brookbank and Matt Bradley, which ended quickly after Bradley wrestled Brookbank to the ice.

Only three plus minutes elapsed between Madden’s goal at 5:56, Backstrom’s equalizer at 8:44, and Brookbank getting his ass kicked at 9:35.

The second 20 minutes of play was fairly disappointing for the Devils, who looked out of sync to say the least.  They were credited with two shots on goal... that's right... disappointing, embarrassing really.

Washington, on the other hand, received contributions from two unlikely candidates, Jeff Schultz and Quintin Laing.

Schultz scored only his third thus far, less than a minute into the period, giving his team the 2-1 lead.  Unfortunately, Colin White deflected the puck past his own goaltender Kevin Weekes making his fourth start in net.

Laing added to the Caps lead with his first NHL goal, and point for that matter at 18:08.

Going into the third, the Devils had some major catching up to do, while the Capitals were looking to remain undefeated when leading after 40 minutes of play.

Just when it looked like the Devs scored their second of the night, the referees and league officials in Canada intervened.

It was determined that at 52 seconds into the third, Mike Mottau made a distinct kicking motion nullifying the goal,  even though television replays indicated otherwise.

That decision was undeniably critical as NJ forward David Clarkson closed the gap 3-2 soon thereafter.

Head coach Brent Sutter was obviously frustrated by the goal waved off, but focused on the team’s second-period struggles after the game.

"It's not the right call. It hit the other foot," Sutter said. "It didn't hit the foot that showed the kicking motion, it's clear on the replay (Mottau) shoots the puck, it's a rebound, and it goes off the skate and goes back in.

"That's not why we lost. Our second period was brutal. We had 18 brutal players in the second period. They left our goalie hung out." (AP)

Parise missed the net on a point-blank shot from the right side and the Devils fell just short after battling for the tying goal in the third period.  The passing was just not as crisp as the Capitals' and the Devils could not overcome an ineffective second period.

The Devils finished the third with a 9-5 shots-on-goal advantage, but were stopped on their third and final power play, finishing 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

Should the Devils have won this contest?  Maybe.

Am I frustrated by their lackadaisical play in what seems like at least one period of play per game? Absolutely.

More importantly, since Jamie Langenbrunner was named captain by Sutter moments before Dec. 7th’s contest, the Devils have struggled, going 1-1-1.

Langs has one point in those three games and the team has not looked the same as well.  That does not mean I should be concerned, since the Devils were coming off an eight-game win streak and even won Friday night.

But, they were very fortunate to pull off the 3-2 victory that night, considering that Washington outshot them after the first period, 9-4 and 10-6 and nearly tied the game in the third with two goals.

On Sunday, the Devils were held to merely 17 shots on net, four in the first and third periods, before falling in overtime to the Rangers 1-0.  That was the team’s sixth shutout of the year.

Tonight, the Devs came out strong but lost focus in their second-period whereabouts (two shots on goal).

To say that the Devils need to upgrade their defense is an understatement.  I give credit to Martin, White, and the others who have held their ground en route to allowing only 72 goals this season.

But, they cannot score on offense and the team is in need of a top-notch power play set-up man that I will discuss in detail later.

New Jersey continues its road trip with Boston on Thursday.  Washington hosts the Rangers on Wednesday night.

Notes:

Weekes (2-1-1) lost his first start in regulation after starting the season 2-0-1.  He finished with 21 saves on 24 shots and was hung out to dry in the second period when Washington had 10 shots on net.

Kolzig improved to 9-13-1 with the victory, making 20 saves on 22 shots.

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