The Washington Capitals opened the 2020-21 season Thursday night with a 6-4 victory over the Sabres in Buffalo. The victory extends the Capitals success in recent opening nights and also extends opening night streaks for Capitals players.

T.J. Oshie (1g, 2a), Nicklas Backstrom (1g, 1a), John Carlson (1g, 1a) and Alex Ovechkin (2a) each had multiple points for the Capitals Thursday night. The Capitals improved to 5-0-2 in their last seven season-opening games, which is tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning (7-0-0) and Montreal Canadiens (4-0-3) for the longest active streak in the NHL.

Nicklas Backstrom has 15 assists in season-opening games (1-15—16 in 13 GP), the highest such total among active NHL players. Alex Ovechkin has 20 career points in 16 season openers (11-9—20), also the highest such total among current NHL players.

Capitals defenseman John Carlson, who led NHL defensemen in scoring last season (15-60—75 in 69 GP), has had multiple points in each of Washington’s last three openers dating back to 2018-19.

Following Thursday nights win, new Capitals’ bench boss Peter Laviolette introduced a new post-victory tradition for the team. Laviolette first noted that he was forced to watch a lot of television over the past year, and that his favorite show during his hiatus was Cobra Kai.

Pain does not exist in this dojo.#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/xONJnNyZVh

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 15, 2021

The Capitals and Sabres lock horns again tonight in the second game of their back-to-back set. Puck drop is set for 7:07 PM.

By Jon Sorensen