Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha each scored for the second consecutive game for New Jersey, which has lost four of five.<\/b>
\nNEWARK, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Based on recent results, the Washington Capitals are getting used to coach Peter Laviolette\u2019s new system. They are even winning games when Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin don\u2019t contribute a point. Garnet Hathaway and Daniel Sprong scored in the opening 5:06 and the streaking Capitals opened an early three-goal lead and held off a rally by the slumping New Jersey Devils in a 5-2 win on Saturday. Lars Eller, who added the third goal in a big opening period, thinks Washington is hitting its stride in a 5-1-1 run that followed a four-game losing streak. \u201cI think Pittsburgh (Thursday) was maybe our best game of the season and today we finally came out with a really good start, we were on our toes, all four lines were going,\u201d Eller said. \u201cI\u2019m encouraged by what I\u2019ve seen here lately, but especially the last two games more so maybe, and then the last five, seven or so.\u201d Jabub Vrana scored on a third-period breakaway and Nic Dowd added an empty net tally as the Capitals kept New Jersey at bay after it got within a goal of the lead. Rookie Vitek Vanecek had 22 saves in his ninth win. Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha each scored for the second consecutive game for New Jersey, which has lost four of five. Mackenzie Blackwood had 19 saves as the Devils opened a five-game homestand. Devils coach Lindy Ruff said the opening period was dreadful. \u201cWe weren\u2019t ready to play,\u201d Ruff said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t ready to compete. We turned a lot of pucks over and looked like we wanted to be a little bit of a fancy team, because our wall battles weren\u2019t great to start the game. I thought the last 40, that\u2019s the team I like to see. But totally unacceptable in the first 20.\u201d The Capitals, who rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat New Jersey last Sunday, learned from that game and started fast. Hathaway opened the scoring at 3:36, depositing a nice cross-ice pass by defenseman Justin Schultz into a wide-open net. Sprong, who only got a chance to play because Evgeny Kuznetsov was out with an upper-body injury, deflected a point shot by Brenden Dillion past Blackwood at 5:06. Eller scored in his second straight game, capping a 3-on-1 break. Conor Sheary used Alex Ovechkin as a decoy on the rush to set up the Dane\u2019s fourth goal of the season. Hathaway said the success comes from players understanding the system. \u201cWhen guys aren\u2019t wasting time or energy or thinking too much, that\u2019s when we anticipate the play and then you see that work ethic take over in a battle, beating guys to the puck. I think that\u2019s what creates our offense a lot too.\u201d Hischier, who left the ice with 4:23 to play after being hit in the shield by a deflected power-play shot, got New Jersey back in the game in the final minutes of the first period, scoring from in close. Zacha extended his scoring streak to nine games with a goal from between the circles in the second period with Vanecek playing without his stick. Ruff said he spoke briefly with a bloodied Hischier but added he has not seen a replay of the incident. \u201cI believe it hit the shield and pushed the shield into his face so that actually is a good thing,\u201d Ruff said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t know the results of it. It hit him hard, hit him really hard, but it hit him it seems like in the shield or on top of the helmet.\u201d Vanecek, playing in his 16th game, made at least three good saves early in the third period to keep Washington ahead. Vrana iced the game by beating Blackwood between the pads on his breakaway. \u201cI think we\u2019re definitely not satisfied still,\u201d Caps D John Carlson said. \u201cI think it\u2019s been better, I would say, but you can\u2019t kind of say you\u2019re there after six games. So we still have a lot to learn, a lot to clean up and a lot we can improve on. I think we\u2019re confident in our team, but we\u2019ve got a long ways to go.\u201d NOTES: The Devils presented C Travis Zajac a silver stick before the game for playing his 1,000th game last weekend.\u2026. New Jersey reassigned D Connor Carrick from the taxi squad to Binghamton (AHL) and recalled D Matt Tennyson from Binghamton to the taxi squad.\u2026 Carlsson picked up two assists and is now three shy of 500 points. Backstrom remains one assist shy of 700. UP NEXT: The teams are back at the Prudential Center for a 3 p.m. game on Sunday.<\/p>\n