The Washington Capitals fell to the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 in Game 4 of our NHL 20 simulation of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Washington Capitals in the virtual world can’t win them all and behind a hat trick from Marcus Johansson failed to complete the sweep of the Buffalo Sabres after going up 3-0 in the series.
The Sabres had a solid first period refusing to go home quietly as they erupted for three goals, two scored by former Capital Marcus Johansson.
Dmitry Orlov was called for a tripping minor 29 seconds into the game. At 1:58, Brandon Montour struck on the power play to get the Sabres up 1-0. At 2:40 Marcus Johansson added to the lead.
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At 5:50 Jakub Vrana got the Caps on the board with his second goal of the playoffs with a goal right in front of the net off a quick feed from Tom Wilson. The Sabres would answer with Johansson’s second of the game at the 16 minute mark.
The Sabres led 3-1 after 20 and had the edge in shots 14-9. They added an additional goal in the second with Johansson’s third of the night to complete the hat trick at 10:26. 4-1 was the score after two periods. The Caps were outshot 29-17.
Nicklas Backstrom scored his fourth goal of the playoffs at 7:26 with a slapshot from downtown. Nick Jensen and Vrana had the helpers. 4-2 would be as close as the Caps would get.
At 19:38 Kyle Okposo put the game away with a goal to make it 5-2. That would be the final as the Caps would fail to complete the series sweep.
The series will shift back to Capital One Arena, giving the Caps a chance to end the series in front of the home fans. Check back tomorrow to see if the team can bounce back. Hopefully, soon we’ll have actual playoff hockey.