Apr 2, 2026; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils center Cody Glass (12) celebrates his goal against the Washington Capitals during the first period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The Caps desperately needed a win last night. Sadly, they couldn’t get one, giving up far too many scoring chances and goals-against that simply shouldn’t happen with the personnel that the Caps have.

The Devils jumped out quick with a two-goal lead but the Caps answered right back, scoring two of their own in a wild swing in less than five minutes of game time. The Caps put themselves in a good spot by coming back and were playing well…until the Devils next goal, which ended up being a back-breaker.

With less than two minutes left in the first, the Devils’ top line (which includes Cap-killer Jesper Bratt) entered the zone and Bratt maneuvered into the slot to shoot. He missed, but Jack Hughes was able to grab the puck off the wall and skate around the top of zone. He slammed on his brakes and fed Dougie Hamilton at the center of the blue line, who then ripped a one timer past a couple of screens and scored just over Logan Thompson’s pad to give the Devils a one-goal lead late in the first, just as the Caps were gaining momentum. It hurt.

The Caps have given up a lot of blue-line shot goals this season. It’s cost them a lot of points, and this is where their defensive scheme and the struggles therein come into play. They just aren’t aggressive enough on puck-carriers. When Hamilton took the shot from the blue line, he was left all alone; someone needed to be out on him to cut that shot off.

The Caps aren’t completely out of the playoff picture, of course. Having some help on the scoreboard for a change helped, although it would have been nice to take advantage of that. Still, they can probably only afford one more loss down the stretch if they want to slip in, so they need to buckle down now and start working their asses off. No worries, their next opponent is just…the surprising, Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres.

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