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Capitals Rally To Rattle Sabres, 5-4 In Shootout; Alex Ovechkin Scores 817th Career Goal

By Jon Sorensen·
Photo: Twitter: @Capitals

The Buffalo Sabres fell to the Washington Capitals, 5-4 (SO) Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. The Capitals found themselves in a 3-1 hole early in the contest and battled back, but could never score the tying tally.

Tom Wilson finally tied the game with 66 seconds remaining in regulation on a 6-on-4 power play. After a scoreless extra frame, the Capitals would win it in the shootout. With the victory the Capitals record improves to 33-29- 7 (73 points) on the season.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (12-8-0-2, 2.74 GAA, .905 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. Ukko Pekka Luukkonen (15-10-0-3, 3.54 GAA, .895 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Sabres. The Capitals forward lines and defensive pairs:

Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Anthony Mantha — Nicklas Backstrom — Craig Smith
Conor Sheary – Dylan Strome – T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Rasmus Sandin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Martin Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Alexander Alexeyev

Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: Joe Snively, Gabriel Carlsson

FIRST PERIOD

The Sabres wasted little time in denting the twine in this one. Ilya Lyubushkin (2) notched the game’s opening tally just 1:57 into the game. Peyton Krebs (13) had the lone assist.

The Sabres quickly made it 2-0 on JJ Peterka’s ninth goal of the season at 4:53 of the opening frame. Jack Quinn (18) had the lone assist.

The Capitals finally got the board with a power play goal from T.J. Oshie (18) at 10:03 of the first frame. Dylan Strome (33) and Alex Ovechkin (27) had the helpers.

The Sabres answered to restore their two-goal lead with 1:54 remaining in the period. Tyson Jost (7) potted the Sabres third goal, beating Lindgren blocker-side high.

The period concluded with the Sabres holding a 3-1 lead.

SECOND PERIOD

T.J. Oshie left the game with about 13 minutes remaining in the middle frame, but he would return late in the period.

Rasmus Sandin took a shot to the left knee and fell to the ice in pain. He had to be helped to the locker room and wasn’t putting any weight on his left leg on his way down the tunnel.

The Capitals and Sabres skated to a scoreless draw in the second period.

THIRD PERIOD

The Capitals closed the gap to a single goal early in the final frame. Evgeny Kuznetsov (12)  notched the Capitals second tally at 1:32 of the final frame. Alex Alexeyev (4) and T.J. Oshie (15) had the helpers.

But the Sabres got it right back. Zemgus Girgensons (X) notched the Sabres 4th score at 5:22 of the final period. Peyton Krebs (14) and Owen Power (25) had the assists.

But the Capitals would answer again. This time it would be the captain. Alex Ovechkin scored his 37th goal of the season at 10:30 of the final frame. It marks Ovechkin’s 817th career goal and his 402nd career goal scored at home, passing Mike Gartner for the fourth-most home goals in NHL history.

The Capitals then tied the game with a 6-on-4 power play goal from Tom Wilson (8) at 18:52.

The game would head to overtime.

OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT

The overtime period was scoreless, sending the game to the shootout.

1. WSH: Kuznetsov: Scored, BUF: Tuch: Denied
2. WSH: Oshie: Scored, BUF: Thompson: Denied

The Capitals overcame deficits of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 to earn their sixth multi-goal comeback of the season and their third multi-goal, third-period comeback.

The Capitals are back in action on Friday when they host the St. Louis Blues at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7PM.

SHAVINGS

  • Charlie Lindgren, who made his 50th career start tonight against the Sabres, earned his 13th win in 22 starts this season. The Capitals have earned at least one point in 15 of the 22 games Lindgren has started (13-7-2).
  • The Capitals won 40 of 65 faceoffs (61.5%) against the Sabres, which is tied for their third-highest single-game total this season.
  • Dylan Strome recorded the primary assist on Oshie’s goal, his 33rd assist of the season. Strome extends his point streak to six games (3g, 6a), which matches a career best (March 3 – March 12, 2022: 7g, 4a; March 19 – March 28, 2022: 3g, 6a).
  • Dylan Strome recorded the primary assist on Oshie’s goal, his 33rd assist of the season. Strome extends his point streak to six games (3g, 6a), which matches a career best (March 3 – March 12, 2022: 7g, 4a; March 19 – March 28, 2022: 3g, 6a).
  • Alex Ovechkin scores his 37th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 4-3. It marks Ovechkin’s 817th career goal and his 402nd career goal scored at home, passing Mike Gartner for the fourth-most home goals in NHL history.
  • Dylan Strome was credited with the secondary assist on the Capitals’ third goal, his second assist of the game. Strome has now recorded three multi-point performances in his last six games.
  • Tom Wilson scored his eighth goal of the season with 1:08 remaining in the third period to tie the game 4-4. Since returning from injury on Jan. 8, Wilson’s eight goals rank tied for second on Washington.
  • Nicklas Backstrom recorded the primary assist on Wilson’s game-tying goal, his ninth assist of the season. It marks Backstrom’s 40th career point (13g, 27a) in 53 career games against Buffalo.