Credit: Los Angeles Times
Devils Offense Strike Early and Often En Route to 7-3 Win Over Capitals
Published: Thursday, April 2, 2026
by Ryan Nelke
NEWARK, N.J. - The New Jersey Devils (39-34-2) routed the Washington Capitals (38-29-9) 7-3 on Thursday night, as five point nights from Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt helped them cruise to victory.
New Jersey would be the first to make a dent in the scoreboard, and it came in sweet fashion. The Devils had numbers on a makeshift 3-on-2, with Nick Bjustad finding Lenni Hameenaho, who then went behind his back to find Cody Glass to tap it in at point blank range. This was Glass’s 16th goal of the season, giving the home team the early lead.
The Devils would continue building on their lead, as 75 seconds later, Timo Meier would win a puck battle, gaining control behind the net, and find Dawson Mercer who went over the top right shoulder of Washington’s netminder Logan Thompson. Nico Hischier would pick up the secondary assist.
However, the Capitals had an immediate answer to this second goal, coming 36 seconds after the Mercer score. Washington’s Hendrix Lapierre and Cole Hutson found themselves on a 2-on-0 breakaway, and Hutson would be the one to beat Devils goaltender Jake Allen, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Lapierre and Tom Wilson would grab the helpers on Hutson’s 2nd of the year.
Brendan Dillon’s tripping penalty not long after would send Washington to the first power play of the night, and in the blink of an eye, the contest was all knotted up at two. Off the faceoff, the Capitals set up their powerplay, and after Ryan Leonard sent a puck to the net, Pierre-Luc Dubois was there to clean it up and tie the game. Wilson would register his second assist of the night on the goal.
Late in the period, New Jersey would establish possession in the offensive zone, and after Hughes circled around for a bit, he found Dougie Hamilton on the one-timer to reclaim the lead at 3-2. Jesper Bratt would tally the secondary assist. The Devils would end up taking this one-goal edge into the first intermission.
The Devils opened the second period the same way they ended the first, with this time, the goal coming from Hughes. Hughes and Bratt would manufacture a 2-on-1 chance, and after Bratt slid a pass across for Hughes, Thompson could not get over in time to stop the shot. Jonathan Kovacevic would come up with the secondary assist on the goal.
New Jersey would get their first man advantage just over two minutes into the final frame on a Leonard tripping minor, but failed to extend their two-goal lead. Hischier would commit a tripping minor of his own right after, but Washington would follow suit, as they could not capitalize.
Several minutes later, the Devils would play a bit of tic-tac-toe in front of the Washington net, with it ending with Hughes’ second goal of the game, tucking it around the left foot of Thompson to make it 5-2. Bratt and Connor Brown would be the two Devils to grab the assists.
Shortly thereafter, Wilson cut the contest back to a two-goal game, sniping one top shelf over Allen’s right shoulder. Rasmus Sandin would pick up the primary assist, while DuBois would tally the secondary.
The offensive effort for New Jersey did not slow down, and this time, it was Bratt firing the Devils’ sixth goal of the game past Thompson on the power play, coming via a David Kampf hooking minor. Hischier and Hughes would record the assists, with this being Hughes’ fourth point of the night.
New Jersey’s seventh and final goal of the night would come via the empty netter, with Mercer connecting for his second of the game, and the 100th goal of his career. Bratt and Hughes would both make it five points on the game, as they both assisted on the empty netter.
Following the win, New Jersey will remain home as they host the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
Ryan Nelke is an Assistant Sports Director and can be reached at nelkerya@shu.edu.Posted in: sports,