There’s something about the Buffalo Sabres facing the Capitals that turns them into the best team in the league (or at least a much tougher team to play than they have any right to be). In the last 10 games against the Caps, the Sabres, consistently one of the worst teams in the NHL every season, averages 4.2 goals a game, and that trend continued as they put up an eight spot on the Caps in yesterday afternoon’s game.
The game was essentially lost on two plays that looked almost identical. The Caps were down 4-2 to start the third period and on the penalty kill. Things looked dire until an Aliaksei Protas shorthanded goal (which put him at the 30-goal mark for the season) brought the Caps to within a goal. That should have given the Caps some momentum – but instead, they gave up a power play goal less than a minute later.
Later in the third, this time down 6-4, following an Alex Ovechkin goal and then a Pierre-Luc Dubois tally on the power play, the Caps had once again cut the lead to one. And once again, instead of taking that momentum and using it to complete the comeback, the Sabres scored again in less than 90 seconds to regain their two-goal lead:
An empty-netter would seal the deal on a loss to the Sabres, an 8-5 final on an all-around disappointing loss.
After the game, head coach Spencer Carbery was blunt in saying this was not who the Caps were and the locker room felt the same way, as they are now winless in their last three games. With the playoffs closely approaching, the team needs to buckle down and start playing the hockey that makes them one of the best in the league.