Sabres Drop Caps, 5-2

Thursday night was Nicklas Backstrom's night at Capital One Arena as Washington's superb and supreme center was honored and feted on the occasion of his 1,000th career NHL game. But Thursday night was not the Washington Capitals' night. A slow start lingered and turned into a rare sluggish performance, and the Caps found themselves on the short end of a 5-2 decision to the Sabres at night's end.

The Caps entered the game with a three-game winning streak, a run that started with a 4-3 win over the Sabres in Buffalo last Friday. In Thursday's finale of the eight-game season's series between the two teams, the Sabres were in control throughout the contest.
"Turnovers played a huge factor," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "A lot of times you turn the puck over because you're not moving the way you're capable of moving in your strides or you're on your toes.
"[The Sabres] were on their toes tonight. They were forcing the issue. We weren't at that speed or at that gear, and oftentimes you just throw the puck or move the puck without the strides and it goes the wrong way."

A recent series of strong starts came to a halt in Thursday's game. Buffalo had the better of the possession and the chances early, and Vitek Vanecek had to make a couple of big stops to deny Cody Eakin and Victor Olofsson before the first television timeout of the first period. Washington seemed out of synch and a step slow throughout the first.
With 70 seconds left in the opening period, Buffalo jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Sam Reinhart deflected a Dylan Cozens shot behind Vanecek.
The Caps responded quickly, squaring the score just 33 seconds later when T.J. Oshie put the puck on a tee for Dmitry Orlov, who cranked a one-time blast home from just above the left circle. This would turn out to be the high-water mark of the night for Washington.
It was a new game going into the middle frame, but Buffalo quickly regained the lead on a Washington turnover in the second minute of the second period. Justin Schultz's intended feed to partner Brenden Dillon went awry at the Washington line, and Olofsson quickly collected it and beat Vanecek from the right circle at 1:36.
Washington's power play has been lethal of late, and it had an opportunity to tie the game a couple minutes after the Olofsson goal. But instead, the Sabres expanded their lead to two goals with a shorthanded strike.
The Caps couldn't control a loose puck high in Buffalo ice, and Andres Bjork sprang Casey Mittelstadt into the Washington end, where the latter ripped a wrist shot to the far corner of the cage to make it a 3-1 game at 5:42 of the second.
The Capitals got that goal back on a delayed penalty near the midpoint of the period. With a sixth attacker on the ice, John Carlson spotted Anthony Mantha all alone at the back door. From the right half wall, Carlson went tape-to-tape and the newest Capital had an easy tap in for his second goal in as many games with Washington. Mantha's goal made it 3-2 at 9:59.

When Bjork scored at 13:23 of the second to make it 4-2, it spelled the end of Vanecek's night. He was pulled for just the second time in his rookie season, and Craig Anderson came on in relief. Seeing his first game action since he defeated the Devils 4-3 in his lone start of the season on Feb. 21, Anderson was sharp. He stopped all eight shots he faced in 24:44 of work.
In the third, Washington managed a bit more time in the offensive zone and a couple of power play opportunities with which to try to get back in it, but the Caps' execution was off. Shots went just wide, passes were in skates instead of on tape, and the Sabres defended hard and well in their own end. Over the course of Backstrom's years with the team, the Caps have mustered many a late comeback from a deficit of a goal or two, but even a vague feeling that a comeback might be in the offing never materialized on this night.
Tage Thompson's empty-netter accounted for the 5-2 final, as Buffalo improved to 5-2-3 in its last 10 games with its first regulation win in Washington since Nov. 22, 2014.
"It felt great from the start to finish," says Buffalo coach Don Granato. "We knew coming in they had put up a lot of goals the last couple of games, and we knew this team is a great team with a lot of talent. I think our guys had a lot of respect for that and respect for the game.
"We really focused on what we had within our control. I thought we possessed the puck well, played efficient and made less work for ourselves."
Buffalo goaltender Dustin Tokarski improved to 1-4-2 on the season, making 27 saves to earn his first NHL victory since Dec. 12, 2015.
"It's an incredible feeling," says Tokarski. " I can't thank the guys enough tonight. They played an incredible hockey game, put the body on the line, got the offense going and really helped my job tonight. All the credit goes to them for having a heck of a game."