Sabres 3 - Capitals 4 (SO) | 5 takeaways from Friday's game

Eric Staal opened the scoring on a night when the Buffalo Sabres once again outchanced the Washington Capitals only to come away with less than two points to show for it.
The Sabres did earn one point this time, falling 4-3 in a shootout at Capital One Arena on Friday.
"I think you got to realize that we're going to need a little bit more," Staal said. "I mean, losing is never acceptable. It doesn't matter when it is, how it is. But there's also a process how you win. We're working at that. There are parts that are good. There are areas that could have a little more improvement. We all need to be a little bit better and push ourselves to get those wins"
In addition to Staal, Dylan Cozens and Riley Sheahan also scored their first goals as Sabres.
Nicklas Backstrom, Nic Dowd, and Jakub Vrana scored for the Capitals while John Carlson scored the lone goal in the shootout. Rookie goaltender Vitek Vanecek made 29 saves.
Here are five takeaways from the game.

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1. Top line searches for breakthrough

The trio of Taylor Hall, Jack Eichel, and Sam Reinhart turned in another strong outing in terms of how the way they possessed the puck and generated scoring chances. The Sabres outchanced the Capitals, 8-2, with that line on the ice at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Eichel saw a shot from the slot go wide of the net early in the first period. He had one hit the post during the second period and another in the shootout. Hall had a game-high nine shot attempts, but six missed the net.
"They had so much opportunity, lots of chances, unbelievable puck control and we need the Eichel-Reinhart-Hall line to just get one or two and I am confident they're gonna explode," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "I mean, they're just so dangerous and so lethal.
"We can bring no excuses though. We need to find a way to get ourselves turned around here and put some wins together back-to-back and get ourselves back into where we want to be. But it will begin with that line finding its confidence and hitting the mark and in two days we definitely need them to lead the way offensively and on the power play."

2. A night of firsts

Staal, Cozens, and Sheahan became only the second trio in team history to score their first goals as Sabres in the same game. The others were Dave Andreychuk, Paul Cyr and Hannu Virta, who accomplished the feat on Oct. 6, 1982.
Staal's goal opened the scoring during the first period. The play saw Victor Olofsson strip the puck from defenseman Zdeno Chara behind the Washington net and proceed to set up Staal in the slot.

Cozens' goal was the first of his NHL career and also began with a defensively sound play. The 19-year-old poked the puck from Capitals forward Brian Pinho in the neutral zone and surveyed his passing options as he walked in over the blue line.
Cozens ultimately decided to take the shot himself, sending a wrist shot top shelf from the right faceoff circle.

"It was a special moment and also a grade-A goal," Krueger said. "He really picked his spot top corner and the whole bench was really ecstatic. It's a special moment when you see somebody with that skillset, that future with the Buffalo Sabres, you know that's a historic moment.
"He couldn't stop smiling, actually, the rest of the game."
Sheahan's goal was the second instance of the defensive-minded forward showing his skill around the opposing net, following his no-look pass to set up Curtis Lazar in Philadelphia. This time, it was Lazar who helped Sheahan to score - albeit in an unconventional way.
While Jeff Skinner fed Sheahan near the Washington net, the defenseman Chara was along the boards straddling Lazar and shoving his glove into the forward's face. With room to skate, Sheahan pulled the puck to his backhand and beat Vanecek from the slot.

3. Shorthanded Capitals step up

The Capitals were missing forwards Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, defenseman Dmitry Orlov, and starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov, all of whom are on the COVID-related absence list.
Krueger and Hall spoke prior to the game about their expectation that the Capitals would make up for what they lost in skill with added work ethic. Sure enough, the Capitals' had players find ways to step up and get the game to overtime.
Backstrom tied the game, 1-1, by pouncing on a rebound late in the first period. The Capitals twice pulled ahead during the second period, first on a one-time goal from Dowd and later on another rebound marker from Vrana.
The Sabres now trail the eight-game season series at 0-2-1 entering Sunday's rematch.

4. In-game lessons for Dahlin, Thompson

Rasmus Dahlin did not skate the final 6:42 of the second period and had just one shift - a power play - during the third. Dahlin was the nearest defender on both Backstrom's and Vrana's goals.
Tage Thompson also did not receive a shift in the third period.
"You'll always see younger players going through ups and downs," Krueger said. "With both of them, we felt at the time we were going to increase the ice time of some other players to push for the win. I'm sure they'll both learn from it.
"There were certain instances we thought could've been taken better, and it's back to the teaching with them tomorrow. We work together with them. I don't think it should be overblown, but at the same time, sometimes taking ice time away from players really gets them to focus on the things they need to do better. I thought for both of them the decision was made more for the others than for them but that they're both going to grow from this."

5. Ullmark returns

Linus Ullmark opened up Thursday about the passing of his father, which caused him to miss the team's two-game series in Philadelphia earlier in the week. The goaltender was back in net against the Capitals, stopping 29 of 32 shots.
"Linus did a good job. I mean, the two rebound goals were definitely on us. He looked like the kind of goalie we need from Linus … where he truly is taking care of the initial shots. We need to clear up the second (chances).
"We're really pleased with where he's at and we'll need him in a couple of days again and he seems to be managing it quite well."