Ovechkin scores 38th in Capitals win against Sabres

WASHINGTON-- Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 37th and 38th goals for the Washington Capitals in a 5-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky and Lars Eller scored for Washington (35-20-7), which ended a two-game losing streak and regained first place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers.
Sam Reinhart scored 14 seconds into the third period for the Sabres (18-33-11), who are last in the Atlantic Division.
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Capitals highlights]
Ovechkin, who tied Calle Johansson's record for most games played for the Capitals (983), has 596 NHL goals and would become the 20th player to score 600 in the NHL.
"When you get closer, you want it done earlier," Ovechkin said. "You're stuck at 599, you want to pass it. Hoping in a couple of games I will have it done and we move forward."
Kuznetsov gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the first period when he skated around forward Jason Pominville.

Burakovsky scored at 13:20 of the second period on a solo rush up ice that ended with a backhand between Robin Lehner's pads for a 2-0 lead. He took a pass from Kuznetsov in the left face-off circle in the defensive zone and skated past five Sabres.
"I'm playing with some confidence right now and I'm feeling good with the puck," Burakovsky said. "I had a lot of other opportunities tonight. It's just kind of crazy that a goal like that goes in because I think I could have some other shots that could be goals, but not that one. I'll take it."
Reinhart made it 2-1 with his goal. Washington blew a 2-1 lead to the Florida Panthers on Thursday in the final 3:42 and lost 3-2. The Capitals blew a two-goal lead Feb. 13 against the Winnipeg Jets in the third period and lost 4-3 in overtime, and Washington defeated Buffalo 3-2 on Feb. 19 being outshot 17-6 in the third period.

Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves, including a pad stop on Kyle Okposo alone in front at 14:01 of the second period. Grubauer has won three consecutive starts, including two in a row against Buffalo.
"How the last couple of games went, it's always huge to get the next one," Grubauer said. "It was important for us to get the win. It was a little unfortunate there in Florida with a couple seconds left. Overall, we played 60 minutes and we've got to keep doing that."
Ovechkin scored on the power play at 10:13 of the third period to make it 3-1 and at even strength at 18:36 to make it 5-1. Eller scored an empty-net goal at 17:48 for a 4-1 lead.

The Sabres have lost three of four. Lehner made 31 saves.
"There were some guys that weren't ready to play tonight," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "It was obvious right off the drop of the puck."
Buffalo scratched forward Evander Kane to prevent injury with the NHL Trade Deadline approaching at 3 p.m. on Monday.

Goal of the game

Ovechkin's goal at 10:13 of the third period.

Save of the game

Grubauer's save on Okposo at 14:01 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Burakovsky's goal at 13:20 of the second period.

They said it

"It was different not having [Kane] there. It's something there's been a lot of rumors about. It just kind of happened." -- Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly
"In this day and age obviously, there's not a lot of players that are with their same team. Those days are past a little bit. I think [milestones are] important for a franchise when you're the face of a franchise." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz on Alex Ovechkin

Need to know

Ovechkin leads Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins by two goals. … Burakovsky has four goals in the eight games since he was a healthy scratch against the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 9. … Kuznetsov had his fourth three-assist game of the season. … Johannsson played for the Capitals from 1988-89 to 2002-03.

What's next

Sabres: Host the Boston Bruins on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; SN360, MSG-B, NESN, NHL.TV)
Capitals: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, FS-O, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)