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GAME: New Jersey Devils (19-7-8-1) at Washington Capitals (11-23-3-1).

It's hard to be dominated any more than the Washington Capitals were the last time they played the New Jersey Devils.

The last-place Capitals will try to make amends for their embarrassing nine-shot performance in their last meeting when they welcome the Devils to the MCI Center.

On Dec. 4, Washington had one of its worst games in a season filled with frustration, as the reigning champions completely shut down the Capitals' offense in a 3-0 victory.

The Devils outshot the Caps 13-1 in the first period, and 41-9 for the game.

"Defensively, we were awesome," Devils goalie Martin Brodeur said. "That's as good as a team can play. I don't know how hard they competed against us, but we don't care. It's about how we play."

The Capitals are looking to shake off their latest embarrassing effort, a 7-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, their third straight defeat.

Jeff Halpern scored for Washington, which surrendered hat tricks to Buffalo's Maxim Afinogenov and Miroslav Satan.

Playing in just his third game of the season, goalie Maxime Ouellet allowed all seven goals on 42 shots.

Over the last six games, Washington is 1-4-1 and has been outshot 234-151 and outscored 22-12.

"We've been talking about paying attention in the defensive zone but we haven't been able to accomplish that," Ouellet said.

The Devils are coming off a 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Monday, which ended their five-game point streak (3-0-1-1).

Grant Marshall had the only goal for New Jersey and Brodeur stopped 21 shots.

New Jersey captain Scott Stevens said there was nothing wrong with his team's effort against the Islanders.

"I thought we worked hard," Stevens said, "but at times, we weren't working smart."