Capitals defenseman Mike Green skated all alone in front of the crease with both the puck and the game on his stick.
The 22-year-old, with three overtime goals already this season, has been at his best in those situations. Unfortunately for Green and the Caps, New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur was even better.
The future Hall-of-Famer executed a perfect poke check to knock the puck away from Green. Minutes later, the Devils skated out of Verizon Center with a 2-1 victory after forward John Madden slid home a rebound to win it with 50 seconds left in overtime.
“[Brodeur] played unbelievable tonight,” Green said. “I wasn’t ready for that [poke check] … [But] we threw a lot at him tonight and he played awesome.”
It was a tough weekend for the Caps (28-27-8, 64 points), who gained just one point in back-to-back games against Eastern Conference-leading New Jersey (37-21-5, 79 points) and Southeast Division leader Carolina (32-28-5, 69 points).
“We came back from 1-0 so I guess you could say we gained a point,” said Caps defenseman Tom Poti. “But at the same time we need two points at this stage in the game and from here on out that is what we’re going to get.”
The Caps dominated the first two periods, outshooting the Devils 28-10 and generating plenty of scoring chances against Brodeur. But other than forward Alexander Semin’s wonderful curl-and-drag goal in the second period that he lifted over a diving Brodeur, the Caps couldn’t finish their chances.
“We definitely stole one,” said New Jersey forward Jamie Langenbrunner. “The way Marty played was unbelievable. He kept us in it for two periods. It’s one of those games where we are lucky to get two points. But we’ll take it.”
