The Sabres aren’t good by any stretch, but the Washington Capitals just couldn’t beat Jhonas Enroth during evens. A little luck and a one weak Caps shift were all the Sabres needed to take the lead in Saturday’s dismal low-scoring affair. Boo.
The Capitals dominated possession in the first period but couldn’t put the biscuit in the basket. They backed off the aggression in the second period, allowing the Sabres to close the gap and even score a weird one off Matt Mouls0n’s stick.
Marcus Johansson drew a penalty on a breakaway in the third. Matt Niskanen scored his first goal in a Caps uniform on the ensuring power play, bouncing off the stick of a Sabres defenseman. Torrey Mitchell, inexplicably, put the Sabres back in the lead with a scrap in the crease with less than 8 minutes left in the game. That was it. Wow.
Sabres beat Caps 2-1.
- The Caps outshot the Sabres 24 to 13 after twenty minutes: blowout potential, wasted. I don’t know why the Caps backed off in the second period, but I’m not surprised by it anymore. Some people will call this a PDO fluke game, and to an extent it was, but it’s important we don’t diminish the Capitals getting less aggressive across all four lines. They can’t sustain the magic– or they’re being told not to.
- But on the PDO fluke front: Ovechkin rang pipe in the second period, Chimera shanked a wide open net, and a handful of Capitals pucks dribbled along the Buffalo goal line. It’s not like the Capitals weren’t making a good effort early in the game; it’s just that they didn’t keep it up for the full hour.
- The top line wrecked house. Alex Ovechkin and company had 75 percent of the shot attempts during 5v5, which is nuts. Ovi himself was worth 8 shots on goal and 17 shot attempts.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov is clearly not in Barry Trotz’s good graces. Already affixed to the fourth line, Kuznetsov saw his ice time attenuated after the first period. What’s up there?
- Vingan, y’all.
Has it surprised anybody else that Matt Niskanen hasn't scored yet this season?
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) November 23, 2014
Did I do that?
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) November 23, 2014
- Pucks are killing people lately. First Tanguay, now Torrey Mitchell hobbled off the ice in the third period after absorbing a slapper with his knee. He was fine. As proof, I offer his go-ahead goal. Ugh.
- Mike Green got hurt or something. He’s not good at taking hits; that’s clear. Why his head was down headed into that hip checkI will never know. He left the Caps bench in the third period, resulting in a reunion of Carlzner and other shufflings. Green is day-to-day.
- Look at this dog.
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) November 23, 2014
- The Alzner-Niskanen pairing and Beagle’s posse looked pretty bored by the Sabres attack before Mitchell’s goal. When the game is on the line, that kind of uninterested play is how good teams lose games. Actually, that line sucked in general on Saturday. I fully expect Trotz to make zero changes to the lines.
Joe B suit of the night
Here’s the part where I sum up the game and where we stand, but it’s Saturday night and that game blew and we’re at the 20-game mark. I’ll spend the next few days trying to sum up who the Caps are after the quarter, starting with the snapshot at noon (or 1 PM) on Sunday.
Have a great night. Sorry about the Caps!
