Fansided

Capitals: Top 3 heroes against the Sabres

By Michael Marzzacco |
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 01: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 01: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
2 of 4
Next
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Washington Capitals finally headed home after their season-long five game road trip and got a huge win Friday night over the Buffalo Sabres.

The Washington Capitals earned a 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres thanks in large part to scoring the first four goals of the night in a span of just over four minutes.

Two of those four were scored by Jakub Vrana. Chandler Stephenson lit the lamp and Brendan Leipsic scored his first goal as a Capital.

Vrana got the scoring started on a breakaway goal at 6:17 off a pass from Tom Wilson.

More from Editorials

The Caps doubled their lead with an odd-man, 3-on-1 rush down the ice from Leipsic to Travis Boyd to Stephenson. Tic-tac-toe for Stephenson’s second of the night just 42 seconds after Vrana’s goal.

Michal Kempny got the first of three assists on Vrana’s second goal of the night. It was a cross-ice beauty, a Czech connection. Wilson had the secondary assist.

The Sabres got on the board in the second period with a goal by Henri Jokiharju at 10:40. Wilson answered at 16:53 for his fifth goal of the season.

T.J. Oshie added his eighth goal of the season at 13:43. Braden Holtby stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced. There are many players we can consider for hero of the game. Here are our top three.

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Michal Kempny #6 and Nicklas Backstrom #19 after scoring a goal in the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Michal Kempny #6 and Nicklas Backstrom #19 after scoring a goal in the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Michal Kempny

When Michal Kempny wasn’t on the ice, the defense struggled. With Kempny back in the lineup for the first time in forever, it’s a welcome sign for a blueline anchored by a Norris Trophy hopeful in John Carlson.

There’s an old saying where good players make their teammates better. One could say Carlson got better with Kempny back paired in his rightful place next to him.

Kempny additionally has offensive upside and it was shown when he assisted on three goals. First he had a perfect cross-ice feed to Jakub Vrana for his second goal of the game.

Late in the second period, Kempny made a great play to keep the puck in the zone and set up a Tom Wilson deflection to make the Capitals lead 5-1.

Kempny’s best pass of the game came in the third period on the goal by T.J. Oshie. It was a backhanded beauty as Oshie was cutting towards the net.

Kempny played a total of 20:57 and had a shot, hit, block, and takeaway, an all-around good game across the board. He finished with a +3 thanks to his three-point effort. Kempny’s point total is now seven with three goals and four assists in seven games since his return from his hamstring injury.

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: Brendan Leipsic #28 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Nick Jensen #3 after scoring a goal in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: Brendan Leipsic #28 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Nick Jensen #3 after scoring a goal in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Brendan Leipsic

Brendan Leipsic scored his first goal as a member of the Capitals on Friday night and additionally had an assist for his first multi-point game.

Leipsic’s goal came at 10:44 in the second period to give the Caps a 4-0 lead. Travis Boyd came down the ice after a pass from Radko Gudas. Boyd circled the net and fed cross-ice to Leipsic on the other side. Leipsic quickly sniped it home.

“It feels good. I’ve had a lot of chances and it’s always in the back of your mind to get that first one so it feels good,” Leipsic told the media after the game.

Leipsic had a block and was a +2 in 10:48 of ice time. He’s was instrumental Friday on the fourth line next to Chandler Stephenson and Travis Boyd although the trio were only on the ice together for a total of nine minutes and 58 seconds.

“It was a long road trip. Sometimes you can start slow at home so we came out with a purpose and made a couple of nice plays,” added Leipsic.

His advanced stats are getting up there but there’s alaso room for improvement. Leipsic’s Corsi-For percentage is 49.78%, not too shabby. His Fenwick For percentage is pretty good at 52.44%.

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring his first goal of the game in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 01: Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring his first goal of the game in the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on November 1, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Jakub Vrana

Jakub Vrana had two goals on the night and was the number one player as the young athlete from the Czech Republic continues to evolve into a superstar.

Vrana used his speed to get the scoring started with a goal on the breakaway. Tom Wilson had the assist.

Vrana notched his second goal of the game after Wilson dumped the puck to Michal Kempny before the defenseman fired a pass that was cross-ice on the money to Vrana for the quick one-time snipe for his sixth goal of the season.

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1190410773262028800

Vrana was all over the ice. In addition to his pair of goals he registered eight shots, was a +2 and had a block and a takeaway in 16:45 minutes of play. He nearly got his first career hat trick.

“I think we’re really confident out there right now. We have lots of energy especially when we came back from that road trip, that brought us a lot of energy. Everybody is working really hard, blocking shots, playing good defensively and that creates offense,” Vrana told the media.

Related Story. Analyzing the month of November. light

Honorable mentions include Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie but for the most part, it was those previous three players mentioned who were the impact players in Friday night’s win. The Caps look to continue their momentum tonight when they host the Calgary Flames.

Next
Home / Editorials