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D.C. tourists: Devils play first of two straight at Caps

Feb 21, 2013 - 3:59 PM (Sports Network) - The New Jersey Devils will make the nation's capital their home away from home for the next few days as they play the first of two straight road games against the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

The Devils are wrapping their season series with the Capitals by playing two games in a row in Washington. The clubs meet for the final time on Saturday at the Verizon Center.

New Jersey beat Washington for a fourth straight time on Jan. 25 at home, recording a 3-2 victory in overtime. Three games of the Devils' series winning streak have come after regulation.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored with 21 seconds to play in the bonus frame, while Martin Brodeur made 26 saves. Mike Ribeiro and Mike Green scored for the Capitals.

New Jersey has won two straight in Washington, picking up a 5-0 victory in its most recent trip there on March 2 of last season. Johan Hedberg made 23 saves to get the shutout.

The Devils have lost three of their past four games overall, falling 2-1 in a shootout versus the Ottawa Senators on Monday.

After the first three shooters came up empty, the Sens' Jakob Silfverberg skated in and ripped a wrister high over the glove of Brodeur and Bobby Butler failed to extend the shootout as he missed the net wide.

Stephen Gionta scored the lone New Jersey goal in regulation and Brodeur made 29 saves.

"We got a point regardless of how we got it," New Jersey captain Bryce Salvador said. "It would have been nice to get the extra one but it just wasn't meant to be."

Forward Ryan Carter was forced out of Monday's game with un upper body injury after taking a hit along the boards, while David Clarkson is battling some tightness in his neck and back. Clarkson, though, is expected to play in this game and leads the Devils with 10 goals.

The Capitals seek to rebound after having a season-high, three-game winning streak snapped on Sunday with a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers. John Carlson scored for Washington, but the Blueshirts picked up a game-winning power-play goal early in the third period.

The Caps were shorthanded five times in the game overall.

"We took too many penalties and it ended up costing us," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "We didn't give them a lot of chances, but we still made a lot of mistakes."

Braden Holtby stopped 38 shots and Ribeiro notched his 400th career assist on Carlson's goal. Thirteen of those have come in his first season with Washington and Ribeiro also leads the club with 18 points.

Green missed the game due to a lower body injury and teammate Marcus Johansson didn't play the finale of a three-game road trip due to an upper body ailment. Both are day-to-day.