NHL

Kovy keeps Devs perfect

Maybe the lockout was just what the Devils needed.

Three games into the season, they have three wins, as Ilya Kovachuk scored with 21 seconds left in overtime to lead the Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Capitals at Prudential Center.

After blowing a 2-0 lead when the Capitals scored twice in the final 7:15 of the third period, the Devils had a chance to end the game early in overtime when they peppered Capitals’ goalie Michal Neuvirth with five shots on a power play but were unable to score. But at 4:39 of overtime, Kovalchuk scored his second of the season from an almost-impossible angle on the red line, roofing the winner over Neuvirth’s shoulder.

“I knew he was going to [protect] low,” Kovalchuk said. “Then when he slid, I just needed to get it up. I hoped he was real tired.”

The Devils opened the scoring when Jacob Josefson split the Capitals’ defense and passed to Stephen Gionta, who beat Neuvirth at 13:55 of the first period. Patrik Elias added a power-play goal late in the second while on a lengthy 5-on-3, which gave the Devils the two-goal lead, but the penalties were almost their undoing, as they were shorthanded eight times.

“We know we have a good penalty kill, but we can’t rely on it every single game,” said Martin Brodeur, who had 26 saves. “Today, I thought we were really strong. It took a tic-tac-toe goal to beat us on the 5-on-3, but it wears on you when you have to do that.”

That goal was scored by Mike Ribeiro at 12:45 of the third, when the Capitals had about three minutes of a two-man advantage after Andy Greene was called for tripping, followed 41 seconds later by a too many men on the ice penalty and an abuse of officials penalty. The fatigued penalty-killers were unable to get off the ice, and the Devils were able to escape only allowing one goal. But Mike Green scored on a shot from the left point at 17:04 to tie the game.

Devils coach Pete DeBoer was not happy with the penalties, but he knows points are hard to come by, and the Devils got two big ones last night.

“The wins are all over the map, so we are just going to take and bank as many of the wins as we can,” he said.

The last time the Devils had a 3-0 start was in 2002-03, when they went on to win the Stanley Cup. Elias noted that being 3-0 is nice, especially when they have yet to play a complete game.

“It’s a confidence booster, and knowing that we’re not playing our best hockey yet,” Elias said. “We’re happy to be 3-0 but there’s a lot of things that we have to get better at. We haven’t been able to play our game right from the get-go and that’s something we have to get better at — and obviously the penalties.”