Timo Meier scores on penalties, Devils beat Capitals 3-2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer scored from 37 seconds apart, Timo Meier, picked up at the trade deadline, had the game-winner and the New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 Thursday night. fade, to keep pace in the Metropolitan Division playoff race.
Akira Schmid made 20 saves in regulation and overtime and went perfect 4-of-4 in the shootout for his seventh win in 10 starts this season. Meier was the only player to score in the shootout, making up for a couple of recent penalties since he joined the Devils.
The Devils have won five of seven and trail the first-place Carolina Hurricanes by just four points with 18 games remaining in the regular season. They are 7-3-1 during Mercer’s 11-game scoring streak in which he has amassed 19 points.
Washington has gone the other way, having lost nine of 12 around the team’s first trade-deadline settlement in more than a decade. Darcy Kuemper played well, posting 38 saves in regulation and overtime, but fell to 0-6-2 in his career against New Jersey, the only NHL team he hasn’t beaten.
Trevor van Riemsdyk and Dylan Strome scored for the battered Capitals, who were without injured defensemen Nick Jensen and Martin Fehervary for the third straight game. Their already slim hopes of making the playoffs are evaporating with each passing day, and they are now five points behind archrival Pittsburgh for the second and final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
NOTES: With Schmid, Meier, captain Nico Hischier and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, New Jersey became the first team in NHL history to have four Swiss-born players participate in one game. The Devils were already the first to have four Swiss players dressed in a game. … Devils coach Lindy Ruff hopes Curtis Lazar will join the team in Montreal after dealing with visa issues since he was acquired from Vancouver. … Former Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek, who replaced Schmid, received a standing ovation from fans when he showed up on video screens at his first game in Washington since being traded to New Jersey.
Devils: visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Capitals: Visit the New York Islanders on Saturday night.