Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals were beaten the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 5-4 in overtime on Tuesday night and are now tied with the New York Rangers (who have a game in hand) for third place in the Metropolitan Division and one point back of the New Jersey Devils (three) for second.

Washington’s point streak extended to eight (6-0-2) with the overtime loss. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves in the defeat.

Capitals’ Lines vs. Buffalo

Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano — Dylan Strome — Anthony Mantha
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Martin Fehervary — Matt Irwin

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: LW Joe Snively, RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel, D Alexander Alexeyev

Injured: D John Carlson (upper-body, missed fourth straight game, out indefinitely); RW Connor Brown (ACL, 36th, indefinite); LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 40th, indefinite); RW Tom Wilson (ACL, 40th, indefinite); C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, 40th, indefinite)

Snively came back with Oshie, who missed the last six games with an upper-body injury, returning.

Buffalo’s Lines

Jeff Skinner — Tage Thompson — Alex Tuch
Jack Quinn — Dylan Cozens — J.J. Peterka
Casey Mittlestadt — Tyson Jost — Victor Olofsson
Zemgus Girgensons — Peyton Krebs — Kyle Okposo

Mattias Samuelsson — Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power — Kale Clague
Ilya Lybushkin — Jacob Bryson

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Craig Anderson

Scratched: RW Vinnie Hinostroza, LW Rasmus Asplund, D Casey Fitzgerald

Injured: G Eric Comrie (knee, 19th, week-to-week)

First Period

Scoring

10:48, 1-0 Buffalo: Tuch wristed one past the blocker in front after Thompson beat Orlov to the loose puck, spun around with Jensen on his back, and fed him wide open.

Alex Tuch from Tage Thompson! #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/qmjFZ1R3ib

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2023

12:07, 1-1: Milano picked up a loose puck at center, sped in, and backhanded a shot top corner after Mantha intercepted a pass at the defensive blueline and chipped it ahead.

#ALLCAPS 1-1. MILANO TIES IT UP pic.twitter.com/NwZrLdujfz

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 4, 2023

17:29, 2-1 Buffalo (PPG): Thompson bombed one past the blocker of Kuemper from the top of the left dot after Dahlin fed him at the top.

The wrath of Tage Thompson. #LetsGoBuffalo | @NewWaveEnergyCo pic.twitter.com/gXiMWI35er

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2023

Shots: 11-8 Buffalo

Other Notable Stats: Washington won 83% of the draws and led 18-10 in hits in addition to 6-1 in blocked shots. Buffalo had two giveaways while Washington was on the board for six.

Second Period

Scoring

5:50, 3-1: After Tuch fell on his knees down low, he got back up and fed Thompson with a no-look backhand pass and Thompson wristed one top left corner from the slot.

Tommer & Tuchy at it again!#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/uMCRiCt6Sa

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2023

16:46, 3-2: Ovechkin wristed a shot over the glove after Kuznetsov won a draw cleanly for his 807th carer goal. The 37-year-old has five goals over a three-game goal-scoring streak and seven over his last five. Luukonen became the 167th goalie Ovechkin has ever scored on. Kuznetsov extended his point-streak to six games (two goals, nine points) with his team-leading 28th helper of the campaign.

#ALLCAPS 2-3. OVECHKIN OFF THE DRAW pic.twitter.com/Mkdh69k7yv

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 4, 2023

Shots: 19-17 Washington (including 11-6 in the second)

Other Notable Stats: Washington won 71% of the draws and did not score on their lone power play through 40 minutes. They also led 29-13 in hits and 10-6 in blocked shots.

Third Period

Scoring

0:55, 3-3: Dowd pounced on the rebound in front after Milano, who earned his fourth multi-point game this season, sped into the offensive zone and threw the puck at the net from the left corner. Dowd has reached the 10-goal mark for the third consecutive season time in his career and is one goal shy of tying his single-season career high (2020-21: 11g).

#ALLCAPS 3-3. NIC DOWD? I NEED SOME DIC NOWD pic.twitter.com/Ao8qSuVsGI

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 4, 2023

7:10, 4-3 Washington: Ovechkin sneaked to the net front and one-timed a shot past the blocker of Luukonen after getting a feed from Sheary, who stripped the puck from Dahlin behind the cage.

#ALLCAPS 4-3. OVI GETS THE CAPS THEIR FIRST LEAD OF THE GAME pic.twitter.com/5Ik1KEggtq

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 4, 2023

11:22, 4-4: Mittlestadt wristed one that bounced past the pad of Kuemper and in from the right dot after deking and getting a pass from Power up high. Jost got a touch on the puck on the way in.

Tyson Jost ties us up again!#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/9xVCO7KGjv

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2023

Shots: 30-27 Washington (including 11-10 in third)

Other Notable Stats: Washington, who led 39-21 in hits and 15-10 in blocked shots, won 69% of the faceoffs. Buffalo had just eight takeaways while Washington earned 12.

Overtime

Scoring

3:00, 5-4 Buffalo: Thompson picked up a loose puck at the side of the net after a turnover by Eller and Tuch bounced it off to him. Thompson buried it for the hat trick and his 30th goal of the season.

Tage Thompson completes the hat trick for the win! #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/ymcC9uDabs

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2023

Shots: 32-29 Washington (2-2 in overtime)

Next game: Thursday vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (7 PM ET, ESPN)

By Harrison Brown