Capitals Surge to 6-2 Win Over Playoff-Bound Sabres; Thompson Saves 37 Shots
The Washington Capitals defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 on April 4 in a game that saw Washington goalie Logan Thompson shine and the Sabres, who are going to the playoffs for the first time in many years, lose standing in their division. Washington is now just a single goal off a wild-card playoff spot, with the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Ottawa Senators, and the Detroit Red Wings all tied on 88 points.
Capitals Take Down Sabres In Convincing Fashion
It was a rough day out for the Sabres, who have qualified for the NHL playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They are two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division and are tied with the Montreal Canadiens. The Capitals, meanwhile, had a great game and are back in the running for the playoffs after losing to the New Jersey Devils, a team well out of the playoffs, by 4 points on April 3.
Ryan Leonard, Tom Wilson, Connor McMicheal, Aliaksei Protas, Jakob Chychrun, and Dylan Strome all scored for Washington. Rasmus Dahlin and Beck Malenstyn scored for Buffalo. Logan Thompson made 37 saves to combat the Sabres, a highly impressive game.
Capitals Score 3 in First Period
Washington was boosted by the return of two players who had missed a few games due to injury, Ethen Frank and Protas. The first period started out hot for the home team, with Chychrun beginning the scoring at 3:15 with an assist from Alex Ovechkin and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Ovechkin and Protas assisted Strome in the game’s second goal at 3:35, then Chychrun assisted McMicheal to make the lead 3-0 to the Capitals at 5:52. The Sabres then immediately pulled their goalkeeper, Alex Lyon, replacing him with Colten Ellis (who then made 20 saves on the game for a solid performance).
Dahlin scored at 6:30, cutting the Sabres’ deficit down to 2 points. Alex Tuch and Josh Norris got the assist. At 12:15, Malenstyn scored with assistance from Jordan Greenway and Dahlin. The score was 3-2 to the Capitals at the end of the first period.
Protas Scores in Second Period, Caps Pull Away in Third
Protas, despite sustaining an upper-body injury and missing two games, was able to score at 6:06 in the second period. He scored unassisted during 4-on-4 play. Similar to the Capitals through the winter season, the Sabres went 0-for-5 on power plays despite having promising scoring chances through the game.
Leonard scored at 6:26 in the third period, assisted by Hutson and Justin Sourdif. Wilson scored the game’s final goal at 8:55, with the assist going to McMicheal. Watch the game highlights below.
The Stats, Reactions
The Sabres made many more shots on goal than the Capitals, 39-28, but were not able to get past Thompson past the first period. Thompson had a save percentage of 0.949, much higher than the average in the NHL, and he wasn’t the only highlight of the game for the Capitals. Chychrun, a defenseman, has scored 25 goals this season and is tied with Al Iafrate as the fourth-best defenseman in terms of scoring goals in a single season for Washington. Dahlin shone for the Sabres, and with his point and assist, is now the 7th Swedish-born defenseman in NHL history to play 100 multipoint games.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery was excited by the game. “Everyone wants to win in this league, but there’s there’s a competitive juice that, can you get into one more notch, and I felt like a lot through this year, our group has continued to do,” he said. “When it’s looked really dark — and ‘Hm, this isn’t a good situation,’ or ‘That wasn’t a great performance. Let’s see what this game looks like,’ they respond, and tonight was no different.”
“Our power play has got to be better, 5-on-5 has to be better, our whole game has to be better,” said forward Tage Thompson of the Sabres, putting it succinctly.
What’s Next for Both Teams
The Capitals will travel to play the New York Rangers on April 5, while the Sabres will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in a key matchup for playoff seeding at home on April 6.
