Capitals 5, Devils 1

Elias' seventh goal of the season tied game at 1-1.

Patrik Elias scored the lone goal for the Devils in Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center.

Jay Beagle broke a 1-1 tie with the first of four unanswered Washington goals to hand the Devils their third straight defeat. New Jersey has dropped nine in a row on the road, the third-longest skid of its kind in team history.

Martin Brodeur made his sixth straight start and finished with 23 saves in his 1,099th career game. New Jersey outshot the Capitals, 36-28.

Michal Neuvirth recorded 35 stops for Washington, which only two nights earlier snapped an eight-game skid of its own in Ottawa.

The Devils (9-22-2) hope a return to Prudential Center will help turn things around. They open a four-game homestand Thursday against the New York Islanders.

Though New Jersey has dropped eight of nine overall, their last five wins have come at the Rock.

Andrew Gordon recorded his first NHL points with a goal and an assist, and opened the scoring by converting Marcus Johansson’s centering feed at 16:41 of the first.

Elias’ power-play tally tied the contest in the second period. With Matt Bradley off for hooking, Elias fired the puck through the screen of Dainius Zubrus to make it 1-1 at 4:56. Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac picked up the assists.

Zajac has eight points in his last eight games (1g-7a), while Langenbrunner snapped a six-game points drought.

The Devils’ leading scorer with 23 points, Elias has four goals, five assists in his last nine games. New Jersey has tallied power-play goals in eight straight games, and Elias paces the team with five tallies on the man advantage this season.

Beagle gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 10:00 of the second by putting home a David Steckel set-up, and the Capitals never looked back.

Jason Chimera got a step on rookie defenseman Mark Fayne to score on a breakaway at 12:39. Later, Colin White deftly pokechecked a speeding Alex Ovechkin only to have John Carlson blast the loose puck through Brodeur for a 4-1 Washington lead at 16:31.

Ovechkin registered a helper on Carlson's goal and was limited to one shot in the game.

The penalty kill enjoyed a perfect night, foiling the Capitals on five tries, including 1:18 of a 5-on-3 in the third. Seven seconds after the PK had stopped Washington’s fifth chance, however, Mike Knuble got to the top of the crease for a redirection of Tom Poti's pass and a 5-1 count at 12:01.

David Clarkson fired a game-high six shots on goal, followed by Langenbrunner's five.

DEVILS NOTES
The three meetings between the Devils and Capitals have each produced three lopsided scores. New Jersey lost 7-2 at Washington on Oct. 9 before posting a 5-0 triumph over the Caps in Newark on Nov. 22.