Devils defeated by Capitals in D.C.

Jason Arnott tallied in a second straight game.

WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored twice and Michal Neuvirth made 31 saves Saturday night, including 17 in the decisive second period, as the Washington Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 7-2 in their home opener at Verizon Center.
 
Both of Ovechkin’s goals came in a second period where the Capitals erased a one-goal deficit with four tallies, including three in less than five minutes.
 
Martin Brodeur yielded five goals on 19 shots and did not return for the third period. He’s allowed nine goals in 102 minutes of work as the Devils dropped their second straight contest to start the season. He yielded five goals only four times last season and never gave up nine in back-to-back appearances.
 
The Capitals trailed 2-1 after one period, but took control with a four-goal outburst in the middle period.

Alexander Semin connected with Tomas Fleischmann for a one-timer 1:59 into the second to knot the score at 2-2. Ovechkin put Washington ahead to stay at 14:31 when he cut inside on defenseman Andy Greene in the left circle and beat Brodeur just inside the near post. Mike Knuble was causing a disturbance in front of the net and the puck hit something on the way in.
 
Jason Chimera came out of the penalty box, received a cross-ice pass from Fleischmann and ripped a shot past Brodeur from the left circle to make it 4-2 with 1:35 remaining in the period. Ovechkin converted a penalty shot 47 seconds later after he created a breakaway opportunity by knocking the puck forward out of the air with his glove and then winning the race before being hauled down.

Brodeur allowed five goals on 20 shots in 40 minutes after surrendering four in a 4-3 overtime loss to Dallas on Friday.

Johan Hedberg replaced Brodeur to start the third period, but his first appearance with his new team didn’t get off to a very good start. He skated out of his crease to meet the puck with his team on the power play, but Brooks Laich knocked down his outlet pass and was able to slide it into the open net for a shorthanded tally at 3:07.

Eric Fehr added a power-play goal midway through the period before the game turned into a series of fights -- one of which featured Devils star Ilya Kovalchuk and Washington All-Star defenseman Mike Green.

Jason Arnott put the Devils on the board first just 1:49 into the game. Washington rookie center Marcus Johansson made an ill-advised pass into the middle of the ice that was picked off by Patrick Elias. Arnott was near the left post to put home the rebound of Jamie Langenbrunner's  shot.
 
John Carlson evened the score 35 seconds later. He collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated into the Devils' zone before snapping a wrist shot into the top right corner that Brodeur was slow to react to because of a screen by defenseman Mark Fraser.
 
New Jersey regained the lead with a shorthanded goal at 13:44. Semin came out of the box for the Washington to give the Capitals a man advantage, but the Devils maintained possession of the puck and took advantage of some lazy defensive work. Travis Zajac sent a pass from behind the net to Dainius Zubrus at the top of the left circle, and he left it there for Henrik Tallinder to blast a shot past Neuvirth to make it 2-1.