Ovechkin erupts in 3rd as Capitals beat Devils 5-3

The New Jersey Devils would be rude visitors, though, getting a pair of their own barely two minutes apart late in the first frame. Another Capital with his first goal of the season was captain and defending Rocket Richard trophy victor Alex Ovechkin to break a 2-2 tie in the third period and tallied an assist. All three kinds of goals were scored by Washington (even strength, power play and short-handed) and nine different players from their team scored a point. Brooks Orpik would make it 2-0 at the 14:32 mark with a centering shot that got past Devils net minder Keith Kincaid.

Center Adam Henrique, defenseman Eric Gelinas and left wing Mike Cammalleri scored for New Jersey (0-2-0).

New Jersey responded within 22 seconds of Orpik’s goal when a wide-open Henrique took Dmitry Orlov’s diagonal pass and fired past Braden Holtby to cut the deficit in half.

Hynes also made a decision to give backup Kinkaid the start instead of going to Cory Schneider on back-to-back nights to open the season.

Alex Ovechkin just submitted the first nomination for goal of the year.

NOTES: C Reid Boucher, RW Tuomo Ruutu and D Damon Severson were scratched for the Devils….

The second period was less frantic, but it did feature the Caps’ first 5-on-3 power play of the season.

Gelinas tied it at 17:40 with a blast from the point on a power play.

Keith Kinkaid was a wall for the Devils during the 5-on-3, stopping all five shots he faced in the two-minute stretch, including a point-blank attempt by T.J. Oshie on the end of a two-on-none break. New Jersey C Brian O’Neill, 27, made his National Hockey League debut…. Washington will begin the season without Nicklas Backstrom, however, as the center recovers from the arthroscopic hip surgery he underwent in May.

The Devils drew the first power play of the night when Evgeny Kuznetsov was sent off for hooking Jiri Tlusty at 10:24, but the Caps were the team to cash in with a shorthanded goal from Jason Chimera at 12:04.