The Washington Capitals failed to reverse their offense in their first game after the team announced that superstar captain Alex Ovechkin will be sidelined four to six weeks with a broken left fibula.

The Capitals will look to up their game on Saturday night when they host the New Jersey Devils. The Metropolitan Division rivals each skated away with a win on the other’s home ice last month.

Washington couldn’t generate much offensively in Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the visiting Colorado Avalanche, aside from Pierre-Luc Dubois’ goal late in the first period. As a result, the Capitals saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.

The game was Washington’s first since Ovechkin left Monday’s 6-2 win over Utah Hockey Club with 2:30 left after colliding with Utah forward Jack McBain. Ovechkin, 39, has scored 13 of his team-leading 15 goals in the last 11 games played.

“It’s an unfortunate injury,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “Anytime you lose your captain, any time you lose a player that’s having the year he’s having and playing as well as he’s playing, he’s such a big part of our team. … He’s coming on a given moment back for Now we just need other guys to do more.”

Andrew Mangiapane was elevated to the top line on Thursday to play with Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas, while Hendrix Lapierre was moved to the third line to work alongside Lars Eller and Jakub Vrana.

“We had some new combinations, guys could maybe try each other out a little bit,” rugged forward Tom Wilson said, according to the Washington Post. “But I think we can definitely hold onto more pucks and create a little bit more offensively.”

Ovechkin would obviously have a hand in that – as the Devils would testify. The three-time Hart Trophy winner had an assist in Washington’s 5-3 loss to New Jersey on Oct. 12 and a goal in a 6-5 win against the Devils seven days later.

New Jersey captain Nico Hischier collected two goals among his four points in the two previous games against the Capitals. Hischier scored all ten goals this season in October and is joined by Jesper Bratt and Stefan Noesen for the team lead.

Speaking of Bratt, he scored two goals and set up another, while Jack Hughes added three assists in the Devils’ 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

“Bratter is just playing elite right now,” Hughes said. “We’re connected. We’re moving the puck well and finding our groove, but it’s about staying consistent throughout the year.”

Noesen also scored a goal against his former side while battling an illness. The goal was his third in his last three games and 10th in 22 games this season, after recording a career-high 14 in 81 games with the Hurricanes in 2023-24.

“Noesen was a game-time decision,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He almost didn’t play… Then he scores that goal against his former team.”

–Field-level media