Capitals 2 - Sabres 1 | Takeaways from Friday's game

Twenty-four hours removed from a season-opening loss to the Washington Capitals, the Sabres came out strong for their rematch on Friday and showed signs they had shaken off the rust.
Buffalo outshot Washington, 31-21, and made a habit of generating shifts in the offensive zone, drawing five penalties in the process. They were unable to capitalize on any of those five power plays, which proved to be the difference in a 2-1 loss.
"I thought our 5-on-5 game in the first couple of periods was outstanding but then we get the power plays, we didn't have the same work ethic as we had 5-on-5 and they outworked us," coach Ralph Krueger said.
Rasmus Ristolainen scored the only goal against Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who made 30 saves in his NHL debut. Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson scored goals for the Capitals.
Here are five takeaways from the loss.

1. Missed opportunities on the power play

The Sabres' revamped power-play units showed promise during the opener on Thursday. Taylor Hall scored 18 seconds into their first chance of the season and Victor Olofsson buried a 6-on-5 shot that offered a glimpse of the possibilities at 5-on-4.
Sam Reinhart echoed his coach in attributing Friday's 0-for-5 performance to over-complication with the puck. The Sabres generated seven shots on goal in their five attempts.
"I think they executed their game plan better than we did on their penalty kill," Reinhart said. "They were winning the battles, they were getting to the puck. We were chasing a bit too much. Instead of making the easy play, we were playing into their hands and weren't able to turn it around."

2. Line change ignites offense

While the Sabres did open the game strongly in terms of possession, it was a second-period adjustment that ended up leading to their first goal of the night. Reinhart moved up alongside Jack Eichel and Taylor Hall with Tage Thompson joining a line with Eric Staal and Victor Olofsson.
The trio of Hall, Eichel, and Reinhart opened the third period after a couple of dominant shifts to end the second. Their work in the offensive zone led to Ristolainen's goal, a shot from the point that deflected off the leg of Capitals forward Tom Wilson as he battled Reinhart in the slot.

Krueger credited the switch as a difference maker in the game and said the team will make changes to the lineup following the 0-2-0 start.

3. Skinner's strong night

Jeff Skinner drew the penalty that gave the Sabres their first power play of the night, then proceeded to have an active shift with the man advantage. On that power play, Skinner gained possession for the team in the offensive zone, won a battle behind the net, and got off a backhand shot from in tight.
It ended up being a precursor to a strong night for the forward, who drew another penalty later in the game and was credited with three individual scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
"I'm pretty confident in what I can do in this league and how I can produce and how I can help the team," Skinner said. "I thought our line played well. I thought (Curtis) Lazar and Riley (Sheahan) were hunting pucks down and we were able to generate some offensive zone time and, as a result, draw some penalties and get some good chances."
Krueger said it was the sort of performance Skinner is capable of on a nightly basis.
"The important thing is Jeff showed us a level today that we need to hold as an expectation every night, and then we'll see how it evolves," he said.

4. Staal plays after hit to head

Eric Staal was labeled as a game-time decision Friday morning after taking an elbow to the jaw from Capitals forward Nic Dowd on Thursday. He was back in the lineup for Game 2, skating 17:43 and tallying two shots.

5. What's ahead

The Sabres have two practice days before heading on the road for another two-game, back-to-back set in Philadelphia beginning Monday. After that, it's a two-game set in Washington on Friday and Sunday.
Krueger said the even-strength game Friday can be a template moving forward.
"We played free today," he said. "We beat them in pretty well every category except for the scoring. It was excellent to see the execution, extremely painful to see the final result. But what changed was we outskated them, we put pucks into places where we created foot races and they really struggled with that."