Ovechkin lifts Capitals again
Goal in fourth round of shootout sends Caps to fifth straight triumph
By Alex Ovechkin’s new standards, Saturday night’s performance fell short. He’d scored three goals in each of his previous two games, but as he launched one puck after another at the net, he only got one past. But when it mattered most, the fourth round of a shootout, Ovechkin was again just as reliable scoring as ever. He beat Buffalo Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton, then watched Pheonix Copley make the save on the other end of the ice, and he celebrated just as fiercely as he had his hat tricks.
Despite a poor night for Washington’s special teams – the penalty kill surrendered three goals for a second straight game – the Capitals were still able to earn at least one standings point by forcing overtime. For the second time in as many nights, it took going to a shootout to decide the game, and once again, Washington’s skill proved to be superior. The Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3, for their fifth straight win.
Every time captain Ovechkin got anywhere near the puck, anticipation ran though Capital One Arena. He had scored hat tricks in each of his past two games, and no player has ever recorded three straight in NHL history. When Ovechkin finally found some time and space 13:46 into the second period, he capitalized, skating into the high slot with no one around, then ripping a slap shot past goaltender Carter Hutton. That tied the game, 3-3 through two periods, and it also extended Ovechkin’s point streak to 14 games, a new career-high. He leads the league with 29 goals in 32 games.
Though Ovechkin’s streak of hat tricks was snapped, it wasn’t through a lack of trying – he finished with a game-high eight shots on goal in regulation. Almost all of Ovechkin’s production during that stretch had come at even strength, and while that makes this string of scoring more impressive, he and the Capitals could’ve used to capitalize on the power play against the Sabres. In four man-advantage opportunities, Washington tallied seven shots on goal, but struggled to challenge Hutton with high-danger chances.
Playing their second game in as many nights, the Capitals made a slight, but significant, tweak to the lineup. After Washington had allowed three power-play goals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night, Coach Todd Reirden wanted to get winger Chandler Stephenson back into the lineup because he’s one of the team’s top penalty-killing forwards. But to play Stephenson, Reirden scratched Dmitrij Jaskin, breaking up a fourth line that had scored in four straight games. The trio of Jaskin, Travis Boyd and center Nic Dowd had been a momentum-driver in the team’s fourgame winning streak entering Saturday night.
The Capitals’ penalty kill has had mixed results this season, starting poorly and then improving. It had gone three straight games without allowing a man-advantage goal before struggling against the Hurricanes, and the personnel change didn’t change the result against the Sabres. Defenseman Michal Kempny was penalized for high-sticking just 41 seconds into the game, and just as Buffalo’s power play expired, captain Jack Eichel smacked in a rebound for the first goal of the game.
A loud “Let’s Go Buffalo” chant rang through Capital One Arena. The Sabres were the NHL’s worst team last season, but years of drafting high has paid off with a team that came into Saturday’s meeting with one standings point more than the Capitals and in third place in the Atlantic Division in large part because of its young talent.
Washington tied the game just 58 seconds after Eichel’s goal. Hutton misplayed a puck behind his net, and forward Devante Smith-Pelly forced a turnover and then fed Brett Connolly, who had an open net to shoot at. Connolly, an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, now has three goals and three assists in his past six games, on pace for a career year. The Capitals took a lead 9:41 into the first, when center Evgeny Kuznetsov set up Jakub Vrana’s one-timer in the high slot. That marked Vrana’s 10th goal of the season, and after he scored 13 goals as a rookie, he’s on pace to comfortably eclipse that in his second season.
But Washington’s leaky penalty kill proved troublesome again in the second period. Kempny was called for hooking 50 seconds into the frame, and Eichel again scored, tying the game. Less than four minutes later, defenseman Madison Bowey went to the penalty box for hooking, and it took the Sabres just 71 seconds to take the lead with a Rasmus Dahlin power-play goal off a rebound.
In Reirden’s first season, not much changed systematically with the team coming off a Stanley Cup championship, but the penalty kill was something he uprooted, introducing new personnel and a more aggressive shorthanded philosophy. There’s been some growing pains with the unit ranked seventh-worst in the league entering Saturday’s game.