Clyde's Shots: Capitals-Sabres, March 17, 2013

37 of Clyde's Shots from the Capitals win over the Sabres.

Capitals-Sabres: Post-Game Quote Sheet

Quotes on tonight's win over Buffalo, via the team:

Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on Jason Chimera’s play…

"It’s been obviously a tough road for him but I really feel like the last five or 10 games he’s played much better hockey, and that’s why he’s getting those chances and finally it went in for him."

Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on the importance of this upcoming week…

"We talked about that and they know that. We have a long road trip and obviously we’re going to have tough games and we need [to win] them."

Washington Capitals forward Jason Chimera on his goal tonight…

"I felt like I was playing really well. I had tons of chances and it felt like goalies made world-class saves against me. It’s a good feeling, but the win is more important for our team right now."

Washington Capitals forward Jason Chimera on the big win tonight…

"It’s huge. We need to get back in the win column for sure and to get us off to a good start and have a good feeling going into Pittsburgh, where they are playing really well right now. It’s a big, big win for us tonight. Guys have a good feeling now and just hopefully we’ll keep it going."

Washington Capitals forward Joel Ward on differences tonight from last night…

"With the lead we built confidence. And I think that’s what we need, is to gain some confidence with the lead and let all go all four lines. And once that happens we can do some damage."

Washington Capitals forward Mike Ribeiro on the play on the ice tonight…

"I think we pressed the puck pretty well today; we were quick on the puck, we were quick to make them react a little bit faster than they might like to and create turnovers and bubble pucks. I think our intensity was better. We pressed the puck a lot better and made them throw the puck to places that they didn’t want to."

Buffalo Sabres interim head coach Ron Rolston on his team’s overall performance…

"We had times in the game we just didn’t have execution, that’s the bottom line. Whether it was a faceoff, line-rush against, (defensive) zone, we had several plays where we just had no execution."

Buffalo Sabres interim head coach Ron Rolston on his team failing to prevent Alex Ovechkin from scoring an early goal…

"There’s a design for it and we just didn’t execute on the play. First of all, you can’t lose the draw that clean, and secondly, we just didn’t have the execution we needed to have in place on the play."

Buffalo Sabres forward Cody Hodgson on his team making the same mistakes defensively…

"Each goal wasn’t the same breakdown, but it just seems like overall we keep making the same mistakes throughout the year, and we’ve got to figure out a way to cap them because otherwise we’re playing pretty solid hockey."

Buffalo Sabres forward Cody Hodgson on the impact of frustration on his team’s performance…

"I don’t think we can really afford to get too frustrated. Obviously it’s frustrating to give up those goals and then when we do work our way back we try to stay positive but at the end of the day we need to win and it’s something we can’t keep doing."

Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller on tonight’s game and moving forward…

"We knew we had to be ready, and with a back to back we had to be smart, and we ended up running around a bit in the second period again. It’s frustrating for sure and everybody’s got to be better, myself included."

Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller on some of the positives his team can take from this game…

"It’s one thing to be around the net and it’s another to make the right plays. I thought we were pretty good though overall; they just scored. I’m not saying that’s a good effort, I just thought that they didn’t have a lot of shots. We tried to be in the shooting lanes, and we messed up a few on coverage – I messed up a couple myself – so it just all adds up."

Recap: Caps 5, Sabres 3

Goals early and late help propel the Caps to a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres and a mighty leap to the 13 spot in the East.

Capitals vs. Sabres Third Period Thread

A couple of quick goals, a strike on the power play, and ladies and gentlemen, Jason Chimera's first of the season have the Caps up 4-2 after two.

Third period ahead...

Capitals vs. Sabres Second Period Thread

An early goal by the captain just 19 seconds in has the Caps on top by one after twenty.

Second period ahead...

Tonight's Lines: Johansson Up Top, Volpatti to the Sidelines

Per Mike Vogel, Marcus Johansson returns to the top line, Aaron Volpatti jumps back to the press box and Jack Hillen makes his Verizon Center Debut:

Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - Alex Ovechkin

Eric Fehr - Mike Ribeiro - Troy Brouwer

Jason Chimera - Mathieu Perreault - Joel Ward

Matt Hendricks - Jay Beagle - Joey Crabb

Karl Alzner - Steven Oleksy

Jeff Schultz - John Carlson

Tom Poti - Jack Hillen

That leaves John Erskine, Mike Green, Tomas Kundratek and Brooks Laich all out with injuries, and Aaron Volpatti and Wojtek Wolski out healthy.

Capitals vs. Sabres Game Thread

Washington hosts Buffalo and tries to salvage a couple of points for the weekend.