EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- At least the Washington Capitals can say they've seen their worst road trip of this season.
They wrapped up a disaster of a five-game excursion last night with a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils, yielding two goals in the first 10 minutes and never recovering.
Thus they completed their longest trip of the season with only one point. From now on, they will play no more than two straight on the road, a good thing since they have gone 0-6-2 away from home in this revised schedule.
They have allowed the first goal in all but four of their games, and are 0-7-1 when the opponent strikes first. They rank last in the NHL in goals, and have scored more than three just twice.
"Scoring is a problem, but I think we are compounding the problem," said Caps coach Jim Schoenfeld. "We have a lot of players playing without focus. They're letting their overriding emotion be worry and fear."
Dave Poulin scored an even-strength goal and Michal Pivonka connected while short-handed, but the Caps could not contain Stephane Richer, who scored two goals and assisted on a third.
Former Cap Bobby Carpenter and Randy McKay scored the other goals for the Devils, who reached .500 at 5-5-2. Despite falling behind 2-0 and 3-1, the Caps had a chance to tie with 12 minutes to play.
Peter Bondra picked up a loose puck and took a back-hander from low in the right circle, but the puck bounced off goalie Martin Brodeur and hit the far post.
"This game was there to be had," Poulin said. Shortly after Bondra's miss, Richer iced the game by outfoxing Sylvain Cote in the left circle and swatting the puck behind Byron Dafoe at 9:21.
"That's why he scores 35-40 goals a year," said Dafoe, just up from the minors and given a start.
"He's been playing very well," Schoenfeld said of Dafoe. "We were trying to give our team a spark. Perhaps, he might come up and give us a whale of a game."
He didn't, but it wasn't all his fault. The Caps started so poorly that one scout in the press box said they must have thought the faceoff came at 8 p.m. instead of 7:35.
Just 47 seconds into the game, the Caps gave up a scoring chance to Corey Millen, but Dafoe denied him.
Less than a minute later, Richer carried around the net and fed Carpenter for a drive from the left circle. The shot beat Dafoe to the glove side for Carpenter's second goal.
At 9:13, New Jersey once again took liberties deep in the Washington zone, and McKay converted from the slot for his second goal.
"They scored on the second shot, but that happens," Dafoe said. "We began to play better."
In the second period, the Devils weaved through the defense, creating a virtual two-on-none, and Scott Niedermayer fed Richer for a tap-in for his sixth goal.