TJ Oshie and Tom Wilson combined for three points in Washington’s comeback win
Halfway through the third period against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, the Capitals were staring down a two-goal deficit and dwindling playoff hopes. Then, Washington’s best players took over, getting a 5-4 shootout victory.
On a pass from Nick Backstrom, Tom Wilson scored the game-tying goal in a 6-on-4 situation late in the third, two of the nine combined points by the team’s top players, including Dylan Strome, Alex Ovechkin, TJ Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
“Your players that are able to create offense and score goals have got to score goals,” Oshie said. “…Everyone at this time of year needs to be playing their game. So if your game is to create offense, you got to create offense. If your game is to shut other lines down, be the best shutdown line out there.”
Wilson’s late tally came from near the net as he found himself with space following a nice feed from Backstrom. The goal marked Washington’s first game tying or go-ahead goal in the final two minutes of regulation this season.
Earlier in the third period, Ovechkin, who was a game-time decision, got the Caps one goal closer as he deflected a Trevor van Riemsdyk point shot past Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The goal was Ovechkin’s 402nd at home, moving him past former Capital Mike Gartner for fourth most in NHL history. Having scored at both Nationals Park (2015 Winter Classic) and the Naval Academy (2018 Stadium Series) Ovechkin has an even 400 goals at MCI/Verizon/Capital One.
However, the Caps could have been down three goals had Charlie Lindgren not made a save just moments earlier. Lindgren was able to get a pad on Jack Quinn’s tip just moments before the Ovechkin marker.
Lindgren said he could feel the momentum shift after that sequence.
The game wasn’t always pretty for Lindgren, who admitted that he “didn’t feel himself” as the Sabres scored twice on their first three shots. Buffalo opened the scoring when Ilya Lyubushkin fired a point shot that got through a maze of bodies and past Lindgren. Buffalo doubled their lead when JJ Peterka converted an odd-man rush after Rasmus Sandin couldn’t keep the puck in at the offensive blue line.
The Caps responded immediately with a power-play goal from Oshie.
Seconds into the power play, Ovechkin fired a slap-pass to Strome, whose redirection hit the post, only for Oshie to deposit the rebound halfway through the opening period.
But the one-goal deficit was short-lived as the Sabres would restore the two-goal lead before the end of the first period. Casey Mittelstadt beat Conor Sheary in a puck battle and Tyson Jost rifled a shot past Lindgren. Oshie said post game that the team left Lindgren out to dry a few times.
After a scoreless second period, the teams traded goals early in the third with Kuznetsov scoring for the Caps, only to see Zemgus Girgensons restore the Sabres two-goal cushion with just under 15 minutes to play.
While it may have looked bleak for the Caps, Lindgren shut the door and allowed Ovechkin and Wilson to save the Caps and get two points.
With the win, the Caps move one point ahead of the Sabres, but Buffalo has two games in hand. The Caps sit tied with the Florida Panthers, who have two games in hand, and three points behind the Islanders, pending their game against the lowly Anaheim Ducks, for the last playoff spot.
“We need everyone on that rope and pulling things in our direction,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “But there’s no question our big guys had a big game.”
