Takeaways: Wilson & Capitals Keep Goals Coming To Outlast Devils, Ovechkin Gets 854

It was a bit of a roller coaster on the road for the Washington Capitals in Newark on Thursday, as a dominant first period quickly turned into a tie game as the New Jersey Devils tilted the ice. This year's Capitals were able to keep the goals coming and go the distance to overtime, where Tom Wilson finished the job.

Wilson struck twice, including the overtime winner, Alex Ovechkin scored his 854th career goal and the Capitals got goals from five different skaters in total en route to a 6-5 victory.

Here are all the takeaways from the victory.

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Dubois, Wilson & Capitals Recover From Fluky Goal For Dominant Start; Ovechkin Gets Goal No. 854

Things didn't necessarily start out as the Capitals hoped, as a sharp-angle shot from Erik Haula made it past Logan Thompson to put New Jersey up 1-0 early. However, Washington recovered less than two minutes later and ended up taking command over the first 20 minutes.

A lot of the credit goes to the second line of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael, especially Dubois, who didn't get on the scoresheet but was instrumental in setting up D.C. for a dominant frame.

Dubois stayed with the play and forced a turnover to Connor McMichael, who then set up Tom Wilson for his fourth goal in as many games to open the season. His season-opening four-game goal streak is tied for the longest such streak in franchise history.

After that, the second line would strike again, as Dubois got the puck to the point for Jakob Chychrun, whose deflected rebound landed right on the tape for McMichael's first of the year.

Alex Ovechkin would then score his first of the season in strange fashion, as the puck went off of his body in front and rolled past Jacob Markstrom to put D.C. up 3-2. It marked his 854th career NHL goal, putting him 41 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.

A strong first period put Washington in a good spot, and it marked the fourth straight game that the team managed at least three goals in a game, something that wasn't an easy feat just a year ago.

Mangiapane & Van Riemsdyk Power Offense To Help Capitals Overcome Mistakes

As mentioned previously, goals weren't easy to come by last year. In fact, looking back, it seemed that giving up two or more goals was a nail in the coffin for the Capitals.

This year, this is a different Washington team, and it's one that can compensate for errors with high-octane offense. That was the difference on Saturday.

Early mistakes and miscues in the second led to quick back-to-back goals in 10 seconds for Nico Hischier, tying the game at 3 and tilting the ice. The Capitals didn't go into panic mode, though, and instead, stuck with their game plan and kept the offense coming.

Trevor van Riemsdyk played a big part in that, recovering from his turnover that led to the third goal with two assists. Van Riemsdyk got the puck up to Andrew Mangiapane for the go-ahead goal, as the new Washington winger showed patience and waited out Markstrom for a highlight-reel goal.

Later in the frame, Van Riemsdyk got involved in the rush again, as his shot from the point was deflected by Dylan Strome to make it 5-3.

The Capitals got goals from five different wingers

Loose Play, Mismanagement In Third Lead To Overtime; Wilson Steps Up Again For Win

The Capitals may have been able to get goals on the board, but poor puck management and loose play pulled New Jersey back into the game as D.C. surrendered two separate two-goal leads.

In the third period, after regaining a 5-3 lead, the Capitals let the Devils even the score. First, Hischier took advantage of an odd-man rush and fed Dawson Mercer to make it a 5-4 game, and later in the frame, Dougie Hamilton would tie the game on the power play with a shot that made it through traffic and past a screened Thompson.

Washington was playing a bit too loose, and those miscues in the third ultimately led to extra time.

In the final minute of overtime, Wilson went on a 2-on-1 with Chychrun and called his own number, scoring his fifth of the season and second of the game to cap off a three-point night.

Top Shelf Takes

- Dylan Strome scored his third of the season and John Carlson picked up an assist to extend their season-opening point streaks to four games. Strome's seven points lead the Capitals.

- Aliaksei Protas picked up an assist and now has points in three straight, the second-longest point streak of his career.

- Brandon Duhaime had the Capitals' first fight of the season, taking down Stefan Noesen early in the third period after the Devils forward tried to goad van Riemsdyk into a fight in the second.

- It wasn't the prettiest night in net for Logan Thompson, but the 27-year-old netminder made a handful of impressive stops, including a huge one on Timo Meier in overtime where he stacked the pads.

- Jakob Chychrun had two assists and was again impressive in the win.