Ovechkin scores twice, Capitals beat Devils 7-2

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The night began for the Washington Capitals with a celebration of their accomplishments of last season, when they led the NHL in wins, points and goals.

Then, after a slow start, Alex Ovechkin and his teammates stirred up memories of a year ago.

Ovechkin beat Martin Brodeur on a penalty shot to complete Washington's four-goal second period, and the Capitals got 31 saves from Michal Neuvirth in a 7-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.

Ovechkin finished with two goals and an assist. John Carlson had a goal and two assists for Washington, which won its ninth straight home opener - a streak that began with a victory over New Jersey in 2001.

The Capitals scored in a variety of ways: even strength, short-handed, on the power play and with a penalty shot.

" It's good to score any way,'' Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. " Scoring goals is probably what we do best, and we want to make teams aware of that."

Jason Arnott and Henrik Tallinder had goals for the Devils, 0-1-1 under first-year coach John MacLean.

" When you lose like this, it's a team effort. It's not just one or two people," MacLean said.

After being held scoreless, New Jersey sharpshooter Ilya Kovalchuk traded punches with Capitals defenseman Mike Green with 4:17 to go. It was the first of several fights in the closing minutes between the teams that had the best records in the Eastern Conference last season.

" They're frustrated because they're a proud team,'' Boudreau said. " I don't know if they've been beaten like that for a while."

Before the game, banners commemorating Washington's first Presidents' Trophy (for most points) and third straight Southeast Division championship were lowered from the rafters. Unfortunately, a first-round loss to Montreal in the playoffs deprived the Capitals of their ultimate goal: the Stanley Cup.

Playing with much the same roster, Washington hopes to get it right this season. The quest began Friday night with a loss in Atlanta, but the Capitals looked much better in this one.

" I think (Friday) night was embarrassing for us. I think everybody played bad,'' Ovechkin said. " Tonight we moved our legs, finished our checks, played better in the neutral zone and defensive zone."

A goal by Tomas Fleischmann at 1:59 of the second period tied it at 2, and Ovechkin gave Washington the lead for good with his first goal of the season, a wrist shot from the left circle at 14:31. Jason Chimera scored at 18:25, a drive that whizzed under Brodeur's right arm, and less than a minute later Ovechkin was awarded a penalty shot after being taken down on a dash to the net.

Ovechkin skated far to his left, moved back toward the middle and lifted a shot past Brodeur from the right side for a 5-2 lead.

" I think I had a couple chances, a couple penalty shots against Marty and you never know what he's going to do,'' Ovechkin said. " So I just made a simple move and the puck goes in. I was pretty happy."

Brodeur didn't return for the third period. His replacement, Johan Hedberg, fired an errant clearing pass during a New Jersey power play that was intercepted by Washington's Brooks Laich, who turned the miscue into a short-handed goal.

A power-play goal by Eric Fehr with 8:33 left completed the scoring.

New Jersey took a 1-0 lead at 1:49 of the first period when Arnott, 35, tipped in the rebound of a shot by 35-year-old captain Jamie Langenbrunner. The second assist went to 34-year-old Patrick Elias,

Thirty-five seconds later, the 20-year-old Carlson tied it with a sizzling slap shot from just inside the blue line.

Carlson, a New Jersey native, said of the goal: " It's pretty cool. I watched (Brodeur) a lot growing up, so it's definitely one of the ones I'll remember."

A short-handed goal by Tallinder at 13:44 put the Devils back in front, but the lead disappeared soon after the first intermission.

" We played a solid first period and a solid start to the second,'' Langenbrunner said. " Then we got away from it a little, and they're an extremely talented team and took advantage of it. ... Those nights are going to happen. It's a little shocking it happened tonight."

NOTES: Play was stopped late in the first period when New Jersey's Anton Volchenkov was struck in the face by a shot off the stick of Nicklas Backstrom. He dropped to his knees while bleeding, and didn't return after being diagnosed with a broken nose. ... Ovechkin has scored at least one goal in each of his six home openers.