Caps to Spend Saturday Night with Sabres
Riding a four-game winning streak, the Caps start a three-game homestand on Saturday against Buffalo
The Caps start off a three-game homestand and finish off a set of back-to-back games on Saturday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres in the District. The game is the first look the Caps have had of the vastly improved Sabres and their wunderkind defenseman, Rasmus Dahlin, the first player chosen in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Washington comes into Saturday's game on the heels of a 6-5 come-from-behind shootout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Friday night. Facing a Canes team that played and lost 6-4 a night earlier in Montreal, the Caps fell into a 4-1 ditch by the midpoint of the contest.
But one of the Capitals' calling cards over the last couple of seasons and the first third of the current campaign is the team's ability to claw its way back from multiple-goal deficits to earn a point or two, and Washington managed to get two from the Canes on Friday night.
Alex Ovechkin recorded his second hat trick in as many games - pulling that rare feat for the second time in his career - and he extended his scoring streak to 13 games in the process, matching a career best streak he established nearly a dozen games ago. John Carlson and Nic Dowd had three assists each, Travis Boyd scored for the third straight game, and Washington was able to come away with its fourth straight victory and its 11th in the last 13 games.
"Confidence is a really big thing, it's an important thing," says Boyd. "It's funny how when you have some, it seems that you can make a couple more plays each game, and you just get a little more confidence and a little more. Right now our line is rolling pretty well, our team is rolling well, and hopefully we can keep it going [Saturday] night."
The Caps' five-on-five play has been excellent over those 13 games, and it was again on Friday. Washington outscored the Canes 4-1 at five-on-five, and Carolina's lone even-strength goal of the game came in the first minute of the first frame. Friday's win marked only the second time in Washington's franchise history - and the first time since a 7-6 win over the Rangers in New York on Oct. 13, 1986 - that the Caps managed to come out on top in a game in which they surrendered three power-play goals and a shorthanded goal.
Buffalo's last playoff appearance came in 2011, and its last postseason series victory came in 2007. Over the course of those seven straight seasons in which they missed the playoffs - and prorating their point total for the lockout-abbreviated 2012-13 season - the Sabres employed five different head coaches while averaging a shade over 71 points per season.
An 81-point season in 2015-16 offered a glimmer of hope, as it was the best full season of the bunch, but a 78-point season followed in '16-17 and Buffalo dropped to 62 points last season, earning the top overall draft choice in 2018 in the process.
Dahlin was a slam-dunk top choice, a defenseman expected to have a significant and immediate impact on the team's sagging fortunes. While the addition of Dahlin has certainly helped, it figures to be more important as the years go on. For now, two other offseason moves have helped boost Buffalo back up north in the Atlantic Division standings.
Jeff Skinner obtained in a trade with Carolina, has 22 goals to lead the Sabres. Buffalo gave up prospect Cliff Pu, a second-rounder in 2019 and a third- and sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft to swing that swap, and Skinner has filled out the team's top line nicely along with Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart.
Buffalo also signed goaltender Carter Hutton as a free agent, and Hutton comes into Saturday's game with 13 wins, tied for sixth most in the NHL. Last season, Robin Lehner led the Sabres with 14 victories. Buffalo has not had a goaltender earn more than 23 wins since Ryan Miller notched 31 back in 2011-12, but Hutton is already more than halfway there.
