Lifeless in DC

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: Jake Allen #34 of the New Jersey Devils makes a save on a. Scoring chance by Ethen Frank #53 of the Washington Capitals during a game at Capital One Arena on March 20, 2026 in Washington, D. C.

(Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images That was probably the loss that puts us out of mathematical reach, with only a 13-0 stretch POSSIBLY saving this season, and with the wildcard teams sitting at a 99 point pace (. 609), that might not even get us there. 1st Period The first started a little slowly, with both teams feeling each other out, until a broken play in the D-zone popped out to Ryan Leonard of the Caps who made no mistake wiring a wrister short side over Allen’s shoulder.

That is now 41 of 69 games the Devils have given up the first goal this season, which seems like a bad strategy. The Devils had a couple of good looks this period, but largely got outplayed getting outchanced 8-1, and lost HD chances 3-0. Jack and Bratt connected on a 3 on 2 that Thompson made an unnecessarily dramatic glove save on, they muffed a 2 on 1 where Jack refused to shoot, Mercer had a good short side semi-break, and toward the end of the period Brown floated a nice pass to Bratt who fumbled it coming in hard behind the Washington D.

Off to the 2nd period, all things considered they were pretty fortunate to escape 1-0 them. 2nd Period The second was similar, getting mostly dominated by the Capitals and just showing an inability to get through he neutral zone with any speed. The story of the game increasingly became Jake Allen who made stopped several grade A chances, and they caught a break on a Protas short side chance that sat on the goal line for an uncomfortable second.