Capitals third period rally comes up short in shootout loss to Sabres
The Washington Capitals had another game that was a complete dud. Until the third period.
The Washington Capitals fell to the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in a shootout. I guess you can say it was a positive that they gained a point to regain their lead in the Metropolitan Division but this kind of an effort against a team that has dropped six regulation games in a row just weeks before the playoffs begin is alarming. Don’t fix this right away and we’re talking an early exit.
Victor Olofsson got the Sabres on the board at 4:53 with former Cap Marcus Johansson and Rasmus Dahlin providing the helpers. The Caps outshot the Sabres 9-8 but this was another case of them being invisible in the early gong.
Jack Eichel made it 2-0 53 seconds into the second with a power play goal after Brenden Dillon went to the box for slashing 18 seconds in. Dahlin and Rasmus Ristolainen had the assists.
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2-0 was the score after two periods with the Sabres leading in shots 9-8. In the third the Caps finally turned it on and got on the board.
First it was Alex Ovechkin at 3:33 off the face-off draw for his 48th goal of the season. Evgeny Kuznetsov had the assist for his 33rd helper on the season.
The Caps would tie it at 13:11 with a shot from downtown by Dmitry Orlov that banked off a Sabres player’s skate for his fourth goal of the season. Ovechkin and Tom Wilson had the helpers.
Coach Todd Reirden told the media after the game (via NHL.com’s Heather Engel:
"“We want to leave here with two points. It’s not what we were looking for, but I am happy with the fact we didn’t stop playing and had chances to end it like they did before even getting into the overtime.”"
The Caps outshot the Sabres 16-5 in the third and killed off a penalty in the overtime. The Sabres had the edge in shots in that extra session 4-2. The Caps outshot the Sabres 35-26 overall thanks to that third period comeback. Braden Holtby made 24 saves for a .923 save percentage.
In the shootout nobody scored for the first three rounds. Rasmus Dahlin and Evgeny Kuznetsov kept the game going. The 13th skater, Dominik Kahun’s goal would prove to be the difference. Richard Panik missed on the other end.
Trending. The consistency of Nicklas Backstrom. light
The Caps will look to bounce back in a must win game at home against the Detroit Red Wings.