Capitals vs. Devils: Ryan Leonard's Coast-to-Coast Goal Sparks Four Straight in Washington Win

Ryan Leonard took a look at the New Jersey Devils' defense late in the first period, decided he did not need any teammates, and went the length of the ice by himself. It was the kind of goal most people only score in EA Sports NHL on rookie difficulty.

That solo dash tied the game, flipped the momentum, and kicked off four straight Washington goals. The Capitals beat the Devils 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena, and Logan Thompson made sure a late New Jersey push never got anywhere close.

New Jersey Strikes First, With Help From the Clock

The Devils had two early power plays to work with after Alex Tuch was called for cross-checking at 3:29 and Boone Jenner was whistled for an illegal check to the head on Timo Meier at 8:03. Neither one produced a goal with the extra man, but the second one came awfully close.

Arseny Gritsyuk beat Thompson from along the left wall at 10:04, one second after the Jenner penalty expired, according to NHL.com. The shot found its way through traffic, Dawson Mercer and Stefan Noesen picked up the assists, and New Jersey led 1-0. It went down as an even-strength goal, which is the hockey version of making your train with one second to spare.

The Turning Point: Leonard Goes Full Highlight Reel

The Devils handed Washington its first power play when Brett Pesce took an interference call at 15:10. At 16:42, Leonard grabbed the puck in his own end and simply never gave it up. He carried it up ice, split two New Jersey defenders, deked Jake Allen and slid it across the goal line. Jakob Chychrun drew an assist, and so did Thompson, the sixth helper of the goalie's career.

Leonard explained his thought process like a guy describing a grocery run. "I saw it a little bit in the (defensemen's) footing, so I just took a chance and took it to the net," he said.

His coach was a little more excited. "You'll be seeing that (goal), I have a feeling, all year long," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said.

From that moment on, the game belonged to Washington.

A Second-Period Blitz

The Capitals needed just 1:16 of the second period to grab the lead. Alex Ovechkin spotted Ilya Protas on the rush and dropped a saucer pass right on his stick, and Protas fired it into the top far corner from the left circle at 1:16 for his first goal of the season.

"And it was a great pass, right to my tape, and luckily I scored," Protas said.

At 4:36, Dylan Strome finished a passing play from Tuch and Jordan Kyrou with a backhand at the right post, his first of the season. Then at 11:14, Jenner atoned for his first-period penalty by cashing in on a puck that bounced to the front after a blocked point shot. That made it 4-1 heading into the third and put the Devils in a deep hole.

Devils coach Sheldon Keefe did not hold back on his team's second period. "I don't know if we won a puck battle the entire second period," Keefe said.

Thompson Slams the Door

The third period was a different story, and that is where Thompson earned his paycheck. New Jersey outshot Washington 17-5 in the final frame, and Thompson made 16 of his saves in that period, per NHL.com. He finished with 29 saves on 31 shots.

Carbery pinpointed exactly where the game could have changed. "They have probably four or five Grade-A chances in the first five minutes (of the third period). If they score one of those it's 4-2 and there are 16 minutes to go," he said. "(Thompson) makes those huge saves and keeps them off the board and basically calms everything down to where we're going to be able to close this out."

Meier finally broke through on a power play with 19 seconds left, scoring from the right circle off assists from Gritsyuk and Jesper Boqvist for his first goal of the season. By then, the only suspense was the final margin.

Leonard finished with his third goal of the season in 13:23. Vincent Desharnais had two assists from the blue line, and Martin Fehervary logged 22:30 with an assist and three blocked shots. Jenner now has four goals in eight games with Washington after scoring 13 in 67 games for Columbus last season, according to NHL.com.

Ovechkin chipped in the 761st assist of his career, leaving him one shy of tying Nicklas Backstrom for the Capitals' all-time record. NHL.com also noted it was the 347th comeback win of his career, tying Joe Thornton for second in NHL history behind Patrick Marleau (352).

For New Jersey, Gritsyuk had a goal and an assist, and Allen stopped 21 of 25 shots. Meier summed up the afternoon in one sentence. "I think it just comes down to the battle, and I think they won more puck battles, they were skating more," he said.

Stats That Matter

• 4: Straight Washington goals after Gritsyuk's opener.
• 17-5: New Jersey's shot advantage in the third period, when Thompson made 16 saves.
• 22-8: Washington's edge in blocked shots.
• 761: Ovechkin's career assists, one away from tying Backstrom's franchise record.
• 15-2-2: Washington's record in its past 19 home games since Jan. 31, per NHL.com.

What It Means

Washington improves to 5-3-0 with 10 points, has won back-to-back games and is now 4-1-0 at home. Thompson put the Capitals' formula into words. "I think definitely for the first 40 minutes we played our game, just staying on top of them," he said. "I think that's kind of our recipe for success. And I think when we do that, we can hang with anyone." The Capitals host Los Angeles on Tuesday.

New Jersey falls to 4-4-0 with eight points after winning three of its previous four, a run capped by Thursday's 7-1 rout of the Rangers. Jack Hughes also saw his five-game point streak end, per NHL.com. Allen admitted the hole was too deep. "Obviously, when you get (down) 4-1 in the NHL, generally, it's hard to claw back," he said. The Devils head home to face Colorado on Tuesday.

Closing Take

The Devils came into D.C. riding high off a seven-goal night and left wondering where their second period went. Washington, meanwhile, got the full Saturday matinee package: a viral goal from Leonard, a vintage Ovechkin dish with a franchise record in sight, and a goalie who stole the third period. If Carbery is right, we will be seeing Leonard's goal all year long. The Devils would probably prefer not to.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.