First the winning streak ended. Now the points streak has, too.

The Devils head to Boston on Thursday night as regulation losers of a hockey game for the first time since Nov. 16. The loss was suffered against the team with the fewest points in the NHL.

They now face a team they beat just last week, but a team that is playing well and has pulled into a tie with New Jersey and Carolina for the second-highest point total in the Eastern Conference.

The Devils' loss in Washington on Monday night was their first regulation road defeat since Nov. 10, ending a 5-0-1 run since.

More importantly, though, the Devils have now earned only one of a possible four points playing two games in just over 24 hours. The way things had been going before the Sunday visit to Madison Square Garden, it was hard to imagine that happening.

CAPITALS 3 DEVILS 2: The officials waved off a Mike Mottau goal that would have cut the Washington lead to 3-2 early in the third period Monday night. Soon after, David Clarkson scored what could have been the tying goal.

Coach Brent Sutter thought Mottau should have had a goal, but didn't point to that as an excuse.

"That's not why we lost," he said. "Our second period was brutal. We had 18 brutal players in the second period. They left our goalie hung out."

The goalie, for a change, was Kevin Weekes, making his first appearance since Nov. 12. The Devils were outscored, 2-0, and out-shot, 10-2, in the period. They played better in the third period but it turned out to be too late as the Devils lost for the second night in a row.

Checkers John Madden and Clarkson had the goals, meaning the usual scorers were shut down.

"We can't give away points like that," said captain Jamie Langenbrunner. "It's one thing if another team comes out and earns them from you, but when you play the way we did it's kind of like giving them away."

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