Kuznetsov has 2 goals, Capitals hold off Devils

Washington Capitals forward Aube-Kubel broke the ice, scoring the first goal of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 10:22 with a powerful slap shot from the right face-off circle. This was an impressive start for Aube-Kubel, who had just been recalled from the Hershey of the American Hockey League earlier that Friday.

Not to be outdone, Beck Malenstyn swiftly followed with a wrist shot just 15 seconds later at 10:37, marking his first goal of the season. Martin Fehervary contributed an assist on the play, but unfortunately, he had to leave the game after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period.

Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery remarked, “I thought we were ready from the start, that first shift, Kuznetsov’s line with (Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson) sort of set the tone right away. Then Aube-Kubel, Nic Dowd and Malenstyn had a lot of energy on the fourth line.”

Nic Dowd also made a return after missing nine games due to an upper-body injury, providing a boost to the team. Carbery added, “For the first time this year, we had sort of our natural fourth line, a real identity. It was what we thought our fourth line would look like. So, credit to them. Dowd comes in, and I thought he was excellent.”

At 6:34 of the second period, Evgeny Kuznetsov further extended the lead to 3-0 with a swift snap shot from the slot, capitalizing on a pass from Wilson during a 2-on-0 scoring opportunity.

Reflecting on the game, Kuznetsov stated, “It was a good start, but then we give up a couple goals late in the third, so they were able to come back, but eventually we got the [win]. That’s all that matters. For us, it was very important to get the [win], especially in the first game of the back to back. The coaches will look what went wrong and we’re going to fix that part for sure.”