NEWARK, N.J. – A three-goal second period prevented New Jersey from earning their first preseason win on Wednesday night.

The Devils did make it interesting with two late-game goals by Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes after the Capitals had built a 3-1 lead.

The Capitals beat the Devils 5-3.

Brenden Dillon scored the game’s first goal, a slapshot from the blue line straight through the middle of the ice past Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson. Assisted by Ondrej Palat and Stefan Noesen, Dillon picked up his first goal as a Devil in the preseason.

In the second period, the Capitals cracked the score sheet three times with goals from John Carlson, Dylan Strome and Brandon Duhaime. Strome’s goal came off a breakaway, a wrist shot getting by Jacob Markstrom’s blocker side, and Duhaime, with some chaos in front of Markstrom’s net, tipped in the puck with just a minute to play in the period.

The Devils failed to convert on their two power play opportunities in the third period, and their first-unit power play worked together for the first time this preseason.

The Capitals added a fourth goal shortly after the Devils had failed to convert on their two power play opportunities on a second Strome goal, and Duhaime added his second into the empty net.

New Jersey has gone 0-3 to start the preseason. However, Wednesday night was the first time head coach Sheldon Keefe has been able to ice a nearly full NHL roster. Expect Friday’s game against the Islanders to be the full NHL group before the team heads to Prague to start the regular season.

Here are some observations from the game:

• After a game of 19 penalties in Montreal only a night before, the Devils and Capitals played through 40 minutes of penalty-free hockey before a first power play of the game was called with 13:54 remaining in the regulation.

The work on the powerplay in a game setting got just a slight taste of action, with the No. 1 unit of Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Dougie Hamilton. As a unit they played all but eight seconds of the power play, with some encouraging looks. Jack Hughes had a shot through traffic gloved by Thompson, Meier was stopped in-close, and Hischier had an excellent chance turned away in the middle of the ice. As a unit, they looked dynamic in their ability to move the puck and let their creative instincts take over.

“It was good,” Jack Hughes said. “I think the only thing we didn’t do was score. I would have liked to put one of those in but good start for us, minus not scoring.”

They also had an opportunity on a second power play with just over nine minutes to play, again showing dynamism in their abilities, but Thompson once again came up with key saves.

“Our game plan, obviously we know when we get out there we’re not going to have too much time,” Mercer said. “We want to make sure we get in there are create a chance as quickly as we can and try to recover the puck. Obviously you can see the play we tried to make there – over, back, forth – quick passes and (Noesen) was right there ready to tap it in. They made a good save on it but the play was there and we executed on it.”

Wednesday night was the first time all five players were playing in a preseason game together.

• The second power play unit of Seamus Casey, Ondrej Palat, Tomas Tatar, Dawson Mercer and Stefan Noesen also showed flashes of brilliance. Thompson came up with yet another flashy, this time on Noesen who was firmly planted at the net-front.

Seamus Casey, playing in back-to-back games, had another solid performance. Casey has played with exceptional poise in his first two games and was even awarded the confidence of the coaching staff by having him on the ice in the dying moments of a close game, working with the 6-on-5 group trying to score the tying goal.

“I’ve watched a lot of him over the years, I thought he had a great game,” Jack Hughes said of Casey. “Moved the puck well, defended hard, he’s a really good skater. I was honestly surprised at how good he was tonight.”

• Jacob Markstrom went the distance in the game, playing the three periods. Markstrom had wanted to do it at least once before the start of the season in Prague. He played two periods on Sunday night in New Jersey’s first preseason game against the Islanders.

• There was some slight crossover from players who played last night in Montreal and were again in the lineup against the Capitals. Defenseman Seamus Casey and forwards Justin Dowling and Xavier Parent all played, while Jake Allen, who played half the game in Montreal, served as Markstrom’s backup.

• Wednesday’s roster was pretty reflective of what you can expect – for the most part – on opening night in Prague. The biggest difference would be the fourth line, which, against the Capitals, was MacDermid, Parent, and Stillman. That line will be swapped out with Paul Cotter, Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian, all three of which played in the opening two games of the preseason and were given the night off.

• Sheldon Keefe has been fairly consistent during camp in keeping defensive pairings together, so dissecting the lineup on the ice against Washington, at least two pairings seem set to start the year, those being Dillon/Hamilton and Siegenthaler/Kovacevic. A wild card is being set up on defense with Simon Nemec as his regular partner through camp/preseason. Santeri Hatakka, who did not finish the game in Montreal, is still being evaluated.