NEWARK, N.J. — Taylor Hall scored on a breakaway 34 seconds into overtime and the New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Thursday night.
Sami Vatanen collected his third assist of the game on the winning goal, a shot over the shoulder of goaltender Braden Holtby.
Drew Stafford, Andy Greene and Miles Wood also scored for the Devils, who have won two straight after breaking a six-game winless streak (0-3-3). Keith Kinkaid had 16 saves and the Devils killed off all five Washington power plays.
Brett Connolly scored twice and Dmitry Orlov had a goal for the Capitals, who lost for only the second time in eight games. The Capitals, however, extended their streak of getting a point against New Jersey to 14 games (12-0-2).
Holtby made 28 saves, but gave up three breakaway goals.
Coming off a midseason break, the Capitals struggled to find their skating legs and didn’t pick up their game until the third period.
Connolly eventually tied it with 3:48 left in regulation beating a screened Kinkaid after taking a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov.
The Devils had taken leads of 1-0 and 3-1 midway through the second period before Washington rallied.
Fourteen seconds after Wood scored on a breakaway to give New Jersey a two-goal lead, Orlov ripped a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past Kinkaid.
Greene had given the Devils a 2-1 lead 3:33 into the second period, beating Holtby in close on a counter attack.
Former Capital Marcus Johansson made a nice pass to send Stafford on a breakaway and he beat Holtby with a backhander at 8:01 of the first period. It was his second goal in three games after being a healthy scratch for seven straight.
Connolly tied it a little more than four minutes later, firing a puck into an open net after Lars Eller redirected T.J. Oshie’s pass to the other side of the net.
The Capitals host Montreal on Friday. The Devils play at Philadelphia on Saturday.
NOTES: Vatanen played in his 300th NHL game. His three assists gave him 102 in his career. … Hall has points in six straight (five goals, six assists) … Washington’s Tom Wilson and New Jersey’s Brian Boyle had a second-period fight. … New Jersey D Mirco Mueller, who fractured a collarbone on Nov. 13, was sent to Binghamton of the AHL for conditioning.
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