Sabres Shock Washington, 8-5
Score: Buffalo Sabres 8-5 Washington Capitals
Shots: BUF 23-29 WASH
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Thompson (37) McLeod (18) Tuch (30) Lafferty (3) Thompson (38) Quinn (14) Tuch (31) Krebs (8)
Washington Capitals Goals: Chychrun (19) Chychrun (20) Protas (30) Ovechkin (37) Pierre-Luc Dubois (19)
Plus 1: Keeping Up With the Caps
This one started with decent chances at both ends of the ice. Buffalo starter James Reimer had a great save sliding across the crease, thwarting Washington’s early chance. Not long after, the Capitals took a penalty on Buffalo’s Sam Lafferty. The Sabre’s anemic power play was lifeless as usual though, with zero shots and odd man rushes the other way. Buffalo paid the price soon after as Jakob Chychrun’s blast dribbled through the pads of Reimer, just over the line. His goal was on a rebound of a wicked shot from Alex Ovechkin. It was the 19th goal of the year for the Capital’s defender.
Buffalo got another man advantage after some rough stuff in Washington’s end. A boarding call and offsetting roughing penalties. This time Buffalo cashed in after some early ineffectiveness. The Sabres worked it around before JJ Peterka’s shot was deflected off Alex Tuch’s skate. Tage Thompson cleaned up the loose change and roofed it over Caps goalie Logan Thompson. The Sabres then killed a Washington power play and Reimer made a strong save in front after it expired. After the first period we were tied at 1-1. The Caps had 10 shots to 7 for Buffalo.
Plus 2: Goals Galore
The period started great for Buffalo. On a delayed penalty, Ryan McLeod took a give and go pass from Jack Quinn and took off on a short, partial breakaway. While being harassed and hounded from behind, McLeod continued to skate hard and roofed his shot up under the bar. It was Ryan’s 18th goal of the year in his strong debut season with Buffalo. Owen Power also picked up an assist on the play. But Washington quickly answered to tie it. Bo Byram’s attempted clear was kept in at the line as he was crunched on the boards. Jakob Chychrun walked in and ripped a shot from the faceoff dot that beat Reimer. Chychrun got his 2nd of the game and 20th on the season. But the scoring continued on and soon after Alex Tuch got his 30th of the year. Tuch tipped a point shot from Connor Clifton and the Sabres grabbed the lead again. This time, Buffalo stayed on the attack and 4th liner Sam Lafferty got in on the scoring. His harmless looking backhand on a 3 on 2 break eluded Logan Thompson and Buffalo suddenly had a 4-2 lead.
Late in the period, Pierre-Luc Dubois high sticked Tyson Kozak. He received a double minor and the penalty carried into the third period. JJ Peterka’s shot hit the crossbar with seconds left to play in the 2nd period. Buffalo finished with 8 shots in the period, the Caps had 6.
Plus 3: REALLY?! Then WOW! Then UGH! Then VICTORY!
A rough start in the third as in the first minute, Buffalo gave up a shorthanded goal. Aliaksei Protas got his 30th of the season on a breakaway. The collective groans of Sabres fans were heard loud and clear as the Caps cut the lead. But Buffalo answered right back on that same power play as Tage Thompson scored his second of the game and 38th of the season. Some tic-tac-toe passing from JJ Peterka to Jason Zucker to Tage for the finisher on that one. A little over 4 minutes later, Jack Quinn blocked a point shot and took off on a long breakaway. Quinn made no mistake as he blew it by Thompson for his 14th of the season. Buffalo’s winger has really woken up as of late and his talents have been on display these past few weeks. Buffalo was up 6-3 and things were looking good.
As we all know, the Sabres never make it easy on themselves. Alex Ovechkin scored to reduce his magic number to 5 and make it a 2 goal game. “Because Buffalo,” Ovie was sure to get at least 1 in this contest. Then Pierre-Luc Dubois tipped an Ovie blast past Reimer on the power play to pull the Caps to within 1. The Sabres were hanging on and things were looking pretty shaky. But late in the game, Alex Tuch tipped a Mattias Samuelsson point shot into the net to cushion Buffalo’s lead back to 2 goals. Washington pulled Logan Thompson late but Buffalo held on and iced it with a nice play from Jack Quinn. After a turnover, Quinn slowed things down and lofted the puck down the ice. Peyton Krebs hustled and fought through a check. He then shoveled the puck into the empty net for the final 8-5 score.
What a crazy game this was. This had 1990’s All Star vibes throughout. A rough outing for the goalies, especially Logan Thompson. He got scored on 7 times on just 22 shots. (plus the empty netter) As the new saying goes, that is Ukko-Pekka Poopponen bad. Meanwhile, the Sabres put on an offensive show. Six players scored at least 2 points each and two scored three points, Tuch and Quinn.
Final Thoughts:
A wild win for the Sabres as they knock off the high powered Capitals. The D and G still needs a lot of work but this team can score when they are gelling. The young kids particularly are coming up clutch, Peterka and Quinn especially. Buffalo finished 2 for 5 on the power play, with Tage getting both goals. That is a pizza party worthy accomplishment for this team.
Rasmus Dahlin returned to the lineup and no doubt played at less than 100 percent. A gutsy effort to return so soon from his illness by the captain. Dahlin played over 22 minutes in this one.
The Sabres play next in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 1st at 7 pm Eastern Time.