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Tag: Vitek Vanecek

  • Hughes scores to back Vanecek, Devils beat Avalanche 1-0

    Hughes scores to back Vanecek, Devils beat Avalanche 1-0

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    NEWARK, N.J. — Jack Hughes scored on power play early in the third period and Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves for his first shutout with New Jersey in the Devils’ 1-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

    The Devils won for the fifth time in six games after dropping the first two games of the season. New Jersey also denied defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado’s NHL-best power play six times.

    “Honestly, it was really good game. The guys played really well and we just scored the goal,” said Vanecek, who won his first contest with the Devils 6-2 on Tuesday night in Detroit. “That felt really good and now a home game, so I’m really happy with that.”

    Hughes scored his third of the season on the power play at 2:59 of the third, shooting the puck past Pavel Francouz. Assists went to Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton. The assist was a team-leading 10th for Bratt who has points in all eight Devils games this season and leads New Jersey with 13 points. Francouz made 22 saves.

    “It was a great game by both clubs. It felt like a playoff game,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “This was the right team to play at the right time. We blocked shots. There was a lot of good stuff tonight.”

    The Devils appeared to open the scoring with just over five minutes left in the first period but an apparent goal by Miles Wood was nullified when the play was deemed offsides on review.

    New Jersey outshot the visitors 8-4 in the opening period. In the second, the Avalanche had a 10-7 shots advantage over the home team as both goaltenders made sterling saves to keep the scoreless game intact.

    “We just didn’t have jump,” Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues said. “We didn’t get enough odd-man rushes.”

    The Avalanche were coming off 3-2 shootout win over Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in which former Rangers netminder Alexandar Geogiev was the winner in his return.

    Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was impressed with the new-look Devils who are showing promise after missing the playoffs the past four seasons.

    “They have great team speed, good skill,” Bednar said. “Give them credit, their PK is really good.”

    Vanecek also denied Colorado forward Dryden Hunt in the second on a point-blank shot from between the faceoff circles.

    The 26-year-old netminder, who had six shutouts with the Washington Capitals prior to this season, made a dazzling pad save on Rodrigues midway through the third and foiled a one-timer by Arturi Lehkonen with just over eight minutes left. He made 10 saves in the third.

    “He made the big save when we needed it. That lifts the whole bench,” Ruff said about Vanecek’s save on Rodrigues. “And our penalty killers did a great job. We limited their key players.”

    Avalanche leading scorer Valeri Nichushkin did not play Friday because of a lower-body injury.

    Following their game Saturday night against the Islanders at UBS Arena, the Avalanche will fly to Finland, where they will play the Columbus Blue Jackets twice next weekend.

    “We had too many turnovers and we didn’t do enough to win the hockey game,” Bednar added. “Tonight we just didn’t have the jam.”

    NOTES: The Devils scratched forwards Alexander Holtz, Ondrej Palat and defenseman Kevin Bahl … Colorado also scratched defenseman Kurtis MacDermid.

    UP NEXT:

    Devils: Host Columbus on Sunday.

    Avalanche: At New York Islanders on Saturday night.

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Ovechkin scores 783rd goal as Capitals beat N.J. Devils 6-3

    Ovechkin scores 783rd goal as Capitals beat N.J. Devils 6-3

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    NEWARK, N.J. — Alexander Ovechkin took a spot from the great Gordie Howe in the NHL record book and closed in another.

    Ovechkin scored his 783rd career goal in a big second period and the Washington Capitals beat New Jersey 6-3 Monday night, ending the Devils’ three-game winning streak.

    Ovechkin’s third goal of the season gave Washington a 4-1 lead and it turned out to be his 122nd game winner, passing Howe (121) for second overall behind Jaromir Jagr (135).

    “Yeah. It’s pretty cool obviously to be in that company and pass those legends, it’s a pretty cool moment,” Ovechkin said.

    The Great Eight needs four more goals to pass Howe (786) for the most goals in NHL history with one franchise.

    Caps coach Peter Laviolette is handed a piece of paper every time Ovechkin passes a mark.

    “It’s unbelievable. That’s when you stand the test of time over the years,” he said. “He’s been able to just constantly contribute offensively and score goals. I guess if you do it well enough and long enough, you’re gonna bring down some milestones and so we give it a quick shout at the end of the game when things like that happen.”

    Garnet Hathaway, Conor Sheary and Nick Jensen also scored in the four-goal period for Washington. Backup goalie Charlie Lindgren made 37 saves in winning for the first time since signing with the Caps as a free agent.

    Nic Dowd also scored for Washington, which scored five times on 18 shots in driving Mackenzie Blackwood from the net after 40 minutes. Aliaksei Protas added an insurance goal late after the Devils pulled to 5-3.

    Nathan Bastian, Tomas Tatar and Jesper Bratt each scored their first goal of the season for New Jersey, which was looking for its first four-game winning streak since October 2018.

    “If you don’t play 60 minutes it’s hard to win games in this league,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “We had a hard time finding our legs and they made us pay.”

    Washington has won six straight at the Prudential Center and is 13-2-1 in the last 16 games here. Overall, the Caps are 26-3-3 in the last 32 games against the Devils.

    After Bastian and Dowd traded goals in the opening period, the Capitals blew the game open with two, two-goal spurts in the middle stanza.

    Hathaway gave Washington the lead after stealing a puck from defenseman Damon Severson along the side boards and beating Blackwood with a quick 25-foot shot at 9:16.

    Sheary scored short-handed 47 seconds later as he stole a pass by Bratt in the Devils’ zone and beat Blackwood from between the circles.

    Ovechkin stretched the margin to 4-1 with a power-play goal from his office in the left circle at 17:14. Jensen scored on a shot from the point 33 seconds later.

    Tatar and Bratt got the Devils within two goals early in the third period and Lindgren, who had faced Toronto earlier this season, had a made a spectacular pad save on Yegor Sharangovich with about six minutes to go.

    “So they fired a lot of biscuits at the net,” said Lindgren, whose brother Ryan plays for the Rangers. “But I do like feeling the puck, I feel like I get into the game, and it felt awesome to get the win tonight.”

    NOTES: F Beck Malenstyn, who was playing in his first game of the season with Connor Brown hurt, got his first NHL assist in 16 games on Dowd’s goal. … Former Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek played the third period for New Jersey and made three saves. This was Washington’s first win on the road in three games. New Jersey was 0 for 4 on the power play.

    UP NEXT

    Capitals: at Dallas on Thursday in the second stop on a four-game road trip.

    Devils: at Detroit on Tuesday night.

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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