Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich exult in a 5-2 Capitals win. Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich exult in a 5-2 Capitals win. (Rich Schultz/Associated Press)

Michael Nylander scored two goals and the Washington Capitals snapped the New Jersey Devils' season-high eight-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night.

Mike Green scored for the fourth straight game, Alex Ovechkin added two assists and the Capitals converted three of four power plays in winning their third straight game.

Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr also scored and Jose Theodore made 32 saves in handing the Devils their first loss since Jan. 11.

Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Rolston scored for New Jersey in the matchup of Atlantic and Southeast division leaders.

Washington built a 3-0 lead, converting two power plays in the first period.

Green, who leads all NHL defencemen in goals this season, got his 16th on a great cross-ice pass by Alexander Semin.

Green darted in from the right point and Semin found him in the right circle for a shot over Clemmensen's glove at 5:58.

Laich got his 12th of the season less than three minutes later, and just eight seconds after Langenbrunner was called for hooking.

Nylander won the faceoff and sent the puck to Green at the left point.

He sent a pass to Ovechkin in the right circle and the Russian quickly centreed it to Laich for a slam dunk into an open net.

Clemmensen, who is 22-10-1 since replacing the injured Martin Brodeur, handed Nylander both his goals.

The first came early in the second when the Devils goaltender failed to control a shot by Fehr.

Boyd Gordon got the loose puck and passed it to Nylander for a shot into an open net.

The Devils, who rallied for overtime wins over Boston and Pittsburgh in their last two games, staged another rally to get within a goal.

Rolston scored his ninth of the season just seconds after New Jersey got a two-man advantage midway through the second.

Langenbrunner, who had three straight two-goal games, got the crowd back in the game early in the third period, scoring his 15th of the season on a short-handed breakaway.

Theodore stopped a Travis Zajac chance on the same Washington power play and he made another good stop on David Clarkson before Nylander put the game away with a shot between Clemmensen's pads on a power play that occurred after Mike Rupp ran into Theodore.

Fehr closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:10 to play.