It was one of the Buffalo Sabres’ better efforts in a while, but the Sabres come up short in the shootout at the First Niagara Center against the Washington Capitals on Monday.
The Sabres and Capitals went back and forth throughout the night exchanging leads three different times before the overtime and shootout. In the shootout, Evgeny Kuznetsov scores the only goal for Washington to give the Capitals the win.
Tyler Ennis got the scoring started for the Sabres on the powerplay to give Buffalo the early 1-0 lead. Ennis finished the evening with four shots in 23:22 of total ice-time.
Ennis’ linemate, Johan Larsson, continues his hot play as he got a goal that tied the game with 6:10 left in the third period. Larsson also had four shots and also had a hit and a blocked shot in 23:10 of total ice-time as the Sabres top center with Ennis and Matt Moulson.
Anders Lindback came up just short once again from registering his first win as a Buffalo Sabre. Lindback stopped 35 of 38 shots that came his way from the Capitals, but looked very solid in net for Buffalo. Lindback is going to be heavily relied on for the final 13 games of the season with Chad Johnson unable to play.
Cody Hodgson had a goal in the game, and put up a team high seven shots on goal in 14:48 of total ice-time.
The Sabres now fall to 19-43-7 on the season, and will travel to Boston for a St. Patrick’s Day meeting with the Bruins on Tuesday. Opening face-off is set for 7:30pm, and can be seen on NBCSN.