The Buffalo Sabres could not put it away. Simple as that. They had a 3rd period lead and managed a measly point as the Capitals asserted their dominance in the final 20 plus minutes of the game.
Marcus Johansson scored his second goal of the night halfway through the overtime period and Washington overcame a slow start to come back and beat Buffalo, 3-2.
The Sabres played an exceptional 40 minutes tonight. There were positives all around, but Robin Lehner was first and foremost.
The Swedish netminder continued his strong play of late finishing with 30 saves. He kept Buffalo in the game way later than they should have been, fending off 15 attempts in the final period.
Lehner was getting pummeled with shots, doing all he could. On too many occasions he was forced to not only make the initial stop, but then a rebound or two after that. Some of that can be put on himself, but Buffalo needed to do a better job of clearing the puck, something they were successful with earlier in the game.
Zemgus Girgensons got Buffalo off to a quick start, opening the scoring six minutes into the game.
The Sabres caught Washington sleeping in the neutral zone and Rasmus Ristolainen fired the outlet pass to Derek Grant. The former Michigan State Spartan had his head up and shoveled the pass to Girgensons who buried the backhand past Braden Holtby.
Jay Beagle tied it up in the 2nd period with a nice deflection in front of the net. Erik Burgdoerfer, making his NHL debut for Buffalo, got caught up the ice when he should have had a body on Beagle in front of the net.
The Sabres would seemingly get the goal back later in the period when Johan Larsson drilled a rebound shot home. Washington challenged the play and Larsson was clearly offside after Ristolainen broke his stick dumping the puck into the zone, moving the puck in much slower than Larsson anticipated.
Shortly after, Kyle Okposo cleaned up the garbage in front of the net to put the Sabres back on top, 2-1. The forecheck at the time was fantastic as Buffalo was getting four and five chances at a time in front of the net.
Then there were the final 20 minutes. It all seemed to go downhill starting when Jack Eichel appeared to re-injure his ankle late in the 2nd period. Eichel would come back out and play the 3rd and overtime periods, but he didn’t seem to have his usual burst.
Washington manhandled Buffalo at the end of the contest. Young, inexperienced, no chemistry, use whatever words you want to describe the Sabres. These were the same guys who clearly outplayed the Capitals the first 40! It was complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
Special notes have to be given to Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe. They skated 29:51 and 28:52 minutes on ice tonight, respectively. With all the injuries the Buffalo defense is dealing with, these two never miss a beat.
They are always seemingly on the ice with the opponent’s top unit making their presence felt physically and mentally. They always seem to know what to do with the puck, especially Ristolainen. There is no thinking, just doing. These are cornerstones for the Sabres to build with.
There is no time for Buffalo to dwell on the loss. They go home to host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 7:00 from the KeyBank Center.