Holtby Helps Caps Hold Off Sabres, 2-1

Braden Holtby was brilliant and the Capitals' much-maligned penalty-killing outfit was perfect in four missions, even getting Washington on the board first in Friday night's game with the Buffalo Sabres. At night's end, those were the key factors in the Capitals' 2-1 win over the Sabres at Capital One Arena.

"He was a big reason we were able to get two points tonight," says Caps coach Todd Reirden of Holtby. "He was outstanding. All game long, obviously a few highlight reel situations there. But he had a huge role in us winning that game. Outstanding job by Braden."
Despite its low-scoring nature, this was a thriller of a contest between a couple of good hockey teams, especially over the final two periods. The victory was Washington's 13th in its last 16 games, and it gave the Caps a 2-1-0 mark for their three-game homestand. Holtby made 36 saves and is now 9-3-0 in his last dozen games.

"I thought the guys left everything out there tonight," says Sabres coach Phil Housley. "It's unfortunate. We've been on the other side of these games, but give credit; Holtby played terrific."
The first period was relatively tame; both sides had a power play opportunity and a couple of decent looks, but neither side was able to get on the board. Buffalo likely had the best chances; both Casey Mittelstadt and Jack Eichel hit the post in the first frame.
The second period was a wild one. The Caps didn't start well; they needed Holtby to make some strong stops in the first couple of minutes, and they caught a break when Buffalo couldn't convert on a two-on-none down low. Jeff Skinner's pass was in Eichel's skates, and the latter's shot wobbled harmlessly off the side of the cage.
Holtby stopped Connor Sheary on a breakaway and made another good save on Evan Rodrigues right before the Caps went shorthanded again at 2:37. It didn't look great for the Caps at that point, but seconds later they jumped in front.

Nic Dowd got hold of a loose puck high in the Washington zone, and he worked the old "go deep, I'll look for ya" play, putting a high backhand flip to space in Buffalo ice, where he hoped Chandler Stephenson would be able to get to it first. Stephenson outraced Buffalo blueliner Risto Ristolainen to the puck and beat Buffalo goaltender Carter Hutton high on the glove side to stake the Caps to a 1-0 lead at 2:50.
"That was a good play by Dowder," says Stephenson. "I just saw he had some time, and I took off hoping he would throw it to an area, which he did. It was a good play by him."
Holtby made another excellent save to deny a Sheary deflection attempt, and it briefly looked as though the Caps may have doubled their lead on a Kuznetsov tuck-in at the post at 8:10, while Washington was on the power play. The puck crossed the line, but officials ruled that they lost sight of the puck and whistled the play dead before it crossed.
Seconds later on the same Washington power play, Kuznetsov carved his way through the middle of the ice and in all alone on Hutton, only to put his shot off the side of the post with the goaltender beaten.

Late in the period, Holtby bolted from his crease and skated out almost to the blueline in an attempt to beat an onrushing Ristolainen to a loose puck high in Washington ice. He did, but he put it right on Sheary's stick in the process. With the net empty and the Sabres in possession, and with a desperate second effort, Holtby was able to pokecheck the puck off Sheary's stick and into the seats, gaining a timely stoppage for Washington.
The Caps maintained that 1-0 lead into the third while continuing to press unsuccessfully for more offense. Buffalo was doing the same, and the two sides went back and forth, often missing the net on both sides, but both goaltenders were on top of their respective games as well.
The Sabres' fourth line evened the game up on a strong offensive zone shift just ahead of the midpoint of the third. Holtby made the stop on Tage Thompson's shot, but the rebound went directly to Johan Larsson, and he buried it before the Caps netminder could reset, making it a 1-1 game at 9:01.

"If you get chances and you keep putting pucks in traffic like they were doing all night," says Holtby, "something like that is going to happen. So you just put it behind you and move on."
Last Saturday night in the District, the same two teams played a similarly entertaining contest that required a shootout to settle, and this one looked as though it could be heading for a similar fate.
Also last Saturday night in the District, Hutton misplayed a puck behind the Buffalo net, and a forechecking Devante Smith-Pelly was able to set up Brett Connolly for a goal. A similar play resulted in the game-winning goal for the Caps with exactly seven minutes left in Friday's rematch.
As Hutton went behind the net to play a dump-in with his back to the rest of the rink, Kuznetsov swiftly and stealthily snuck in and stole the puck. As a panicked Hutton tried to get back to the crease, Kuznetsov fed Tom Wilson, who put the puck into the empty net with exactly seven minutes remaining.

"Whenever the goalie is behind the net, you just try and get open, just in case," relates Wilson. "[Kuznetsov] makes a great play, and you've just got to try and get it there before the goalie gets back in the net. You take those ones, and it was good timing."
The Caps went on a power play with 5:37 remaining, but weren't able to muster an insurance goal. Buffalo got its own chance with the extra man with 2:12 left, and the Sabres pulled Hutton for a six-on-four skater advantage for part of that power play. But Holtby made five of his 36 saves in those final 132 seconds, and the Caps held firm to skate off with the two points.
"We thought we put together a really good effort," says Sheary. "I think he stood on his head for a lot of the game and kept them in it, especially in the third. I think he was the difference tonight."