Strome scores with 8 seconds left in OT to lift Capitals past Sabres

WASHINGTON -- Dylan Strome scored with eight seconds remaining in overtime after Tom Wilson tied it late in the third period, and the Washington Capitals rallied for their fifth straight win, 4-3 against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Strome entered the zone 2-on-1 with Sonny Milano, kept the puck and beat Sabres goalie Devon Levi with a wrist shot after Wilson tied it 3-3 at 18:45 of the third, scoring on a one-timer off a pass from Strome with goalie Darcy Kuemper pulled for an extra attacker.

“I took a peek [at the clock] on the 2-on-1,” said Strome, who also had an assist. “I knew I had some time. John [Carlson] made a good pass up to me. I was kind of thinking pass all the way and the [defenseman] kind of backed up a little bit, so I figured I’d just get a shot off.”

T.J. Oshie scored his first goal of the season, and Alexander Alexeyev scored his first NHL goal for the Capitals (10-4-2), who are 9-1-1 in their past 11. Carlson had two assists, and Kuemper made 24 saves in his first start since Nov. 8.

“We’re just showing the character of the group,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “They’re not going to just ride off into the sunset and say, ‘It just wasn’t our night. Buffalo came in and took two points from us.’ They’re going to dig and put everything they’ve got into finding a way to turn the momentum, and that’s what they did.”

JJ Peterka and Dylan Cozens scored, and Zach Benson scored his first NHL goal for the Sabres (8-9-2), who have lost four of five (1-3-1). Victor Olofsson had two assists, and Levi made 26 saves.

“You’d like to have had a bigger lead,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “You know teams are coming at you hard. It’s just the way it is. We had our chances to create some greater separation, but I don’t feel like it slipped. We had chances. Even in overtime, we had some good chances.”

Peterka gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 10:09 of the first period after receiving a pass from Tyson Jost and scoring on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

Benson made it 2-0 at 16:04 with a highlight-reel goal, taking a pass in the bottom of the left circle from Olofsson, skating into the slot, and putting the puck between his legs before lifting a shot past Kuemper.

“I’m just trying to do the move I think is going to work and kind of let my instincts take over,” Benson said.

Alexeyev cut it to 2-1 at 17:01 when his wrist shot through a screen from the point deflected past Levi.

“Unreal,” Alexeyev said of his first NHL goal. “I didn’t really recognize that it went in, but it felt great -- big weight off my shoulders.”

Oshie tied it 2-2 at 7:50 of the second period after backhanding a Connor McMichael rebound from the slot.

“He made a nice play over the blue line, and I think I actually had him back for an open net,” McMichael said of Oshie. “Luckily the puck went right to him. I think that’s the type of goal he needed. He’s been playing really well lately, and now that he saw one find the back of the net, he’s going to be rolling.”

Shortly after Washington killed off a 5-on-3 power play late in the period that spanned 1:18, Cozens gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 16:18, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle.

The goal ended Washington’s streak of 24 consecutive penalty kills in its past 11 games.

“We started off 2-0 right away and then we give that lead up, and then we get it again and we give it up again,” Cozens said. “It’s something you can’t allow to give up two leads in a close game like this against that team that is obviously really hot right now.”

NOTES: It was the first overtime goal of Strome’s career. … Washington defenseman Nick Jensen played 19:24 and blocked three shots in his 500th NHL game. … Peterka has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games and extended his point streak to four (two goals, three assists). … Benson (18 years, 194 days) became the fourth-youngest player in Sabres history at the time of his first NHL goal, behind Pierre Turgeon (18 years, 54 days), Rasmus Dahlin (18 years, 183 days) and Nikita Zadorov (18 years, 190 days).