For the second time in as many Saturday nights, the Capitals got two goals from Tom Wilson. For the second time in as many Saturday nights, the Caps got multiple breakaway saves from Logan Thompson. And for the second time in as many Saturday nights, the Caps won a 4-2 comeback decision behind those prominent elements.
Last week’s 4-2 victory came on the road in Montreal; tonight’s was achieved on home ice against the Buffalo Sabres, and it included the second three-assist performance for John Carlson in the last three Saturday nights.
Saturday’s win is Washington’s fourth in succession – the longest current streak in the Eastern Conference – and it extended its point streak to nine (8-0-1), the longest in the NHL this season.
With Carlson providing the sublime setup feed, Dylan Strome scored his 10th goal of the season at 11:05 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and give Washington its second lead of the night. Jakob Chychrun’s empty-net goal at 18:30 gave Logan Thompson (19 saves) a bit of breathing room with which to record his 12th victory of the season.
Strome’s goal came after a brief neutral zone regroup and involved four of the five Washington skaters. Standing in the slot, Strome redirected a Carlson feed to Strome’s tape.
“Chych makes a great play up to [Taylor Raddysh], and good poise by Raddy to give it to Carlson,” recounts Strome of his first game-winner of the season. “I just tried to go back door, and I saw the goalie sliding a little bit, so I went back to the strong side. It was a great play all around, a great setup.”
Saturday’s victory is Washington’s 13th comeback triumph of the season. It was also the first time the Caps were able to defeat Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in regulation in seven starts. They did it with a couple of redirections and a rebound goal.
“As you can tell, the goals are drying up for us at 5-on-5,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought their goalie was excellent tonight. We get a couple of good looks, some 2-on-1s, a couple of chances, and you can tell he is playing well. And so we have to continue to find ways in those games to [get some] redirects, tips, secondary chances, and how about a rebound in the crease? And we ran into a little bit [Thursday] in Columbus as well, right? So we'll continue to work at that, find ways we can do a better job at 5-on-5 of scoring.”
The Caps fell down by a goal in the second minute of the opening period when a Jason Zucker shot found its way through Logan Thompson’s pads and in at 1:36 of the first. For Washington, that early goal against was a mere speedbump; they turned in a strong first 20 minutes where they forechecked the Sabres hard and created a number of good looks, but the crease work of Luukkonen preserved Buffalo’s slim lead for most of the frame.
While the Caps weren’t able to break through at 5-on-5 until Strome’s goal midway through the third, they were able to draw a couple of calls on the Sabres that lead to a pair of Wilson goals on the power play.
Brandon Duhaime drew a penalty going to the Buffalo net on the rush, giving the Caps a power play opportunity late in the first, and they cashed in for the tying tally at 17:09. After a series of short, crisp plays in a tight area near the Buffalo line enabled the Caps to keep the zone, Carlson settled the puck along the left half wall and surveyed before firing a sharp pass to the tape of Wilson, who expertly redirected it over Luukkonen’s left shoulder to make it a 1-1 contest.
“Give Dewey a lot of credit,” says Wilson. “He skates the full length of the ice and draws that penalty. That gets us going in that game; that’s a huge play. That’s the mentality of our group; every chips in, it’s a strong team. We love playing together, and it’s another big win.”
Early in the second, the Sabres had the Caps hemmed in their own end for a bit, right up until Zach Benson unwisely hauled down P-L Dubois to put Washington on the man advantage again. And again, they struck with extra man to take a 2-1 lead.
After gaining Buffalo ice, Chychrun shook off a pair of Buffalo defenders – one at a time – before firing a shot on net from the high slot. Luukkonen kicked that one out, but Wilson tucked the rebound home for his second power-play goal of the game and his second consecutive Saturday night with multiple goals. Wilson’s second goal came at 5:11.
Alas, the lead was short-lived. Just over two minutes later, the Sabres squared the score at 2-2 when Jiri Kulich tipped home a Bowen Byram wrist shot from center point at 7:24.
For the first time in three games, the Caps weren’t trailing as they entered the third period; they needed just one goal rather than two to get the lead. But they also needed Thompson to make key breakaway stops on Alex Tuch and Zach Benson in the back half of the second just to get to that stage.
“They obviously have a lot of speed and skill,” says Thompson of the Sabres. “Credit to them; they stuck with it. And credit to [Luukkonen]; he kept their team in it all night long. It was a difficult game, but I think these two points are going to go a long way.”
Opening a three-game trip in the District, the hard luck Sabres dropped their ninth straight game (0-6-3).
“There wasn’t a lot going on chance-wise in the third for either team,” says Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “I thought in the second period, there were a lot of good opportunities, a breakaway we don’t finish on. We can’t really take too much away; special teams weren’t good enough, obviously the biggest difference in the game.”
