Postgame Report | Sabres pick up point in shootout loss in Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Zemgus Girgensons scored early in the third period to give the Sabres their second two-goal lead of the night, but the Washington Capitals fought back to earn a 5-4 shootout victory inside Capital One Arena on Wednesday.
The Sabres led 3-1 coming out of the second intermission, then held a 4-2 lead after Evgeny Kuznetsov and Girgensons traded goals within the first 5:22 of the third period.
Alex Ovechkin scored on a deflection to pull the Capitals back within one with 9:30 remaining. Tom Wilson scored the tying goal with the Capitals on the power play and their goalie pulled for an extra attacker with 1:08 on the clock.
Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie scored goals in the shootout.

The loss marked the third straight game with at least a point for the Sabres, who are among a group of teams (including the Capitals) pursuing the New York Islanders for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Buffalo lost in overtime to the New York Rangers at home on Saturday and opened their current three-game road trip with a victory in Toronto on Monday. The trip concludes Friday in Philadelphia.
"We get another point tonight," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "Again, the other side is disappointing. You don't want to diminish that. We would have loved to have had two points and we were in a position to get two points. We didn't get it done. But you've got to move on fast.
"So, we're on to Philly and there's two more potential points there. We've got to dial right back into that."
Ilya Lyubushkin, JJ Peterka, and Tyson Jost also scored goals for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves.

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres jumped out to a 3-1 lead on the strength of goals from Lyubushkin, Peterka, and Jost.
Lyubushkin sent a shot through a Kyle Okposo screen to open the scoring 4:43 into the contest. Peterka dashed to the backdoor and buried a feed from Quinn less than five minutes later.

Oshie scored a power-play goal to briefly spark a pushback from the Capitals that was snuffed out by Jost's goal. Washington had tallied eight straight shot attempts when Casey Mittelstadt hustled on a backcheck and stripped the puck from Conor Sheary.
Jost hunted the loose puck, pulled up in the high slot, and buried a wrist shot with 1:54 remaining.

"We were just playing to our identity, playing the way we know how," Jost said. "Being patient but also playing with quickness.:
PERIOD 2
The Sabres earned a 24-16 edge in shot attempts but were kept from extending their lead by Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper, whose nine-save period included an early shot from the slot by Tage Thompson. Jeff Skinner later hit a post during a long shift in the Washington zone.
Riley Stillman laid out to prevent a pass from crossing in front of the Buffalo net late in the period. Luukkonen stopped all nine shots he faced.
PERIOD 3
The Capitals took the first eight shots of the period - including Kuznetsov's goal from the high slot just 1:32 in - before a timeout with 15:54 on the clock allowed the Sabres to regroup. A workmanlike effort from Peyton Krebs set up Girgensons' goal less than two minutes later.
Alex Ovechkin deflected a shot past Luukkonen to bring the Capitals back within one with 9:30 remaining. Wilson's 6-on-4 goal tied the game with 1:08 on the clock.
"We had a real good start and we got away from our game," Granato said. "We played way too relaxed after that. It was as if we felt it was going to be an easier night than what it was. We generated scoring chances, but we didn't score. We thought that would just keep happening and we would be fine. So, we just dropped the level of focus and intensity and it added up. It bit us."

OVERTIME
The Sabres controlled play for the first half of overtime but were unable to convert against Kuemper.
Dylan Cozens was called for tripping with 56.5 seconds remaining but the trio of Lyubushkin, Girgensons, and Henri Jokiharju worked with Luukkonen to kill off the remainder of the period.
SHOOTOUT
Kuznetsov opened the shootout in slow motion, drifting in and then beating Luukkonen low stick side.
Tuch was stopped by Lindgren in the bottom of the first and then Oshie deked out Luukkonen to put the Capitals up 2-0.
Thompson went five hole, but Lindgren used a poke check to end the game.
Buffalo is now 1-2 on the year in the shootout.

What we learned

1.The Capitals jumped ahead of the Sabres in the standings but have played two more games.
| Team | GP | Points | P% | Reg. W | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - Pittsburgh Penguins | 67 | 78 | .582 | 25 | 33 | | WC2 - New York Islanders | 69 | 76 | .551 | 29 | 34 | | Florida Panthers | 67 | 73 | .545 | 28 | 31 | | Washington Capitals | 69 | 73 | .529 | 25 | 31 | | Buffalo Sabres | 67 | 72 | .537 | 25 | 32 | | Ottawa Senators | 67 | 70 | .522 | 26 | 31 | | Detroit Red Wings | 67 | 69 | .515 | 24 | 28 |
The Islanders play in Anaheim at 10 p.m.
2.Lyubushkin's goal was his third point in his last four games. He's posted a career-high 13 points (2+11) this season.
3.Peterka's goal was his fifth point in his last three games.

Up next

The road trip concludes Friday in Philadelphia. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7 on MSG and WGR 550.