WASHINGTON _ Devils general manager Ray Shero sold, albeit moderately, at the NHL trade deadline.
So the rest of this season, while still harboring faint hopes of making the playoffs, is about testing a group that will try to blend inexperienced players into the team's core.
The NHL-leading Capitals, of course, are a still test.
The Devils were successful in keeping the high-scoring Capitals in check with a tight defensive effort. But the Capitals showed they can also play that way in a 1-0 win on Thursday night at Verizon Center.
The Capitals (43-13-7) won a franchise record 14th straight home game, dating to their 2-1 shootout loss to the Devils on Dec. 29. Braden Holtby needed to make just 15 saves for his eighth shutout as the Devils (25-26-12), on an 0-3-2 skid, were held to a season low for shots.
The Capitals finally broke the scoreless tie on Jakub Vrana's power-play goal at 7:21 of the third period with defenseman Damon Severson off for tripping Jay Beagle at the Devils' crease. Vrana converted a loose puck at the crease after defenseman John Carlson hit the near post from the right circle.
Despite Shero trading away veteran right wing P.A. Parenteau and defenseman Kyle Quincey, Devils' players did not view that as a signal management was waving the proverbial white flag on the season, despite the long-shot odds the team faces to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
"Not really," right wing Kyle Palmieri said. "I think we're a team that, as of right now, is playing some great hockey. Those two guys were key parts but we didn't have P.A. against Montreal (in Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss) and Q missed a decent amount of time in February. You kind of saw the writing on the wall. You know come deadline time with guys on expiring contracts, it's part of the business. I was in Anaheim when we were in the President's Trophy race and we still wound up selling some pieces."
Parenteau, 33, and Quincey, 31, were both on one-year, $1.25 million deals and unlikely to be re-signed for next season.
Instead, Shero, in a way, signaled his belief in the team's core, including Palmieri.
"No doubt," Palmieri said. "I think he trusts us and we have some young guys that have played great hockey down in the minors and here. We're excited to see what those guys can do in an expanded role. I'm sure every one of them is looking forward to an expanded role and being able to have a chance to prove themselves as an NHL player."
With Parenteau traded and rookie left wing Pavel Zacha and center Jacob Josefson both injured, Devils coach John Hynes had rookie Kevin Rooney, recalled from Albany (AHL) on Wednesday and welcomed to the NHL by a heavy, first-period check from Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik, center the fourth line, rookie Blake Coleman, in his seventh NHL game, center the third line and rookie Miles Wood among the top six forwards.
"It was nothing too crazy (Wednesday), it doesn't change a whole lot for us," goalie Cory Schneider (23 saves) said. "The situation stays the same in terms of where we are in the standings and what we need to do to keep moving upward. We'll miss guys like P.A. and Kyle but you move forward. You can't dwell on it for too long."
Parenteau's presence or absence would not have affected how the Devils chose to play against the potent Capitals, especially since a finger injury kept Parenteau out of Monday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Canadiens.
Wood did have the Devils' best chance of the first 40 minutes _ in which the Devils managed a sum of nine shots, a two-period low for a Capitals' opponent this season _ getting to the crease for two backhanders that a sprawled Holtby turned aside at 10:07 of the second period.
The Devils were shut out for the fifth time this season.
