Hall breakaway gives Devs OT win vs. Caps

The Devils showed — at least for a game — they could play with the Capitals and beat them.

Taylor Hall scored on a breakaway 34 seconds into overtime and the Devils defeated the Capitals 4-3 on Thursday night at Prudential Center for only their second win against Washington in 14 games.

“That was a challenge for us tonight,” said Hall, who has points in six straight games. “Sometimes against teams, you get it in your head that Washington has been such a strong team for some many years that you almost respect them too much. It’s about time as a group that we stop worrying about the other team and just come out and play our game.”

The win pulled the Devils to within four points of firstplace Washington in the Metropolitan Division.

“The first two times we played them, we didn’t play well at all,” said Devils captain Andy Greene, who scored his first goal in 27 games. “They really took it to us. … It was important for us to set the tone of the game.”

Sami Vatanen collected his third assist of the game on the winning goal, a shot over the shoulder of goaltender Braden Holtby.

Drew Stafford and Miles Wood also scored for the Devils, who have won two straight after a six-game winless streak (0-3-3). Keith Kinkaid had 16 saves and the Devils killed off all five Washington power plays.