The Washington Capitals continued to take care of business. This time it was done at home and not on the road by a final of 4-2 over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Capital One Arena.
Jason Zucker drew first blood for Buffalo with his eighth of the season at the 1:36 mark of the opening period. At 17:09 Tom Wilson would strike for a power play goal which was assisted by John Carlson and Connor McMichael. Stay tuned on Carlson for just a second but for McMichael it was his 12th assist of the season.
Wilson would strike once again on the power play at 5:11 of the second for his 13th goal of the season off a feed from Jakob Chychrun for his 11th assist of the season. Jiri Kulich would get one back for Buffalo at 7:24 and the score would be tied at two after two.
At 11:05 Dylan Strome gave the Caps the lead for good with his 10th of the season. Carlson assisted again and Taylor Raddysh had his ninth apple on the year. At the 18:30 mark, Chychrun added an empty net for good measure, his ninth of the season. Carlson would complete the hat trick of assists with 20 while Pierre-Luc Dubois added his 17th of the season.
Washington had the edge in shots on goal throughout the contest. 12-6 in the opening 20, 13-10 in the middle frame and 6-5 in the third for an added score of 31-21. Buffalo had the edge in face off percentage by a 54.4 to 45.6 margin. Caps penalty kill held off both Buffalo power plays while the Caps extra man advantage converted at two for three for 66.7 percent success rate.
Washington also had the edge in hits 27-25 while Buffalo had 11 giveaways and eight takeaways while the Caps had 13 giveaways and four takeaways. These teams will meet again on Jan. 6 in Buffalo and March 30 back in Washington. Logan Thompson picked up the win for the Caps as he made 19 saves for a .905 save percenage and improving his record to 12-1-2. Caps improve their overall record to 21-6-2 and as of this writing remain first in the Eastern Conference and the Metropolitan Division.
The Capitals will be heading to Dallas to take on the Stars on Monday night at 8 p.m. eastern on Monumental Sports Network.