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Caps beat Sabres 5-3 in whatever the opposite of a statement game is – a question game?

By Peter Hassett

 4 Comments

November 8, 2021 9:34 pm

The Washington Capitals faced a supposedly inferior foe on Monday night, the Buffalo Sabres, and yet it was a pretty close game. The Caps gave up goals to costly mistakes and lost yet another player to injury, all of which suggests that the true nemesis of the Washington Capitals, dramatic pause, is the Washington Capitals.

Tom Wilson scored the game’s first goal, shamefully redirecting Ovi’s shot. Connor McMichael kicked off the second period with a goal-scorer’s goal, which is what they call a goal that is scored by a person who can score a goal. Cody Eakin exploited Alex Ovechkin’s wipeout to score a solo goal for the Sabres, but then Ovechkin revenged by tapping in Dmitry Orlov’s shot.

In a farcical sequence early in the third period, Anders Bjork brought the Sabres within one, but Tom Wilson restored the two-goal hole with a counterattack from Kuznetsov. John Carlson’s bomb from the point made it 5-2. Colin Miller got another one in garbage time.

Caps win.

Not gonna do Bailamos here. It doesn’t count when it’s Buffalo. You can watch it if you want, but I’ll not have any of that horse nonsense here.

  • Ovechkin was very active early, taking five of the team's 12 shots on goal in the first period. He now has a league-leading 'leven goals.
  • Nic Dowd left the game in the second period. Just seconds before Connor McMichael's goal, Dowd started skating funny. He headed off the tunnel, never to return. The team says he has a lower-body injury, and I suspect he's been dealing with it for a while now.
  • Dowd joins Oshie, Backstrom, and Mantha in Washington's long list of injured forwards. Like I said on Sunday: if there's ever a time to be banged up, it's at this moment in the season schedule.
  • Making matters a bit worse for the otherwise great and otherwise fourth line, Carl Hagelin notched two penalties. Terrible example to set in front of Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, who is his son and who made his NHL debut tonight. I spelled his name right on the first try. You can't prove otherwise.

  • Tom Wilson had a rough shift leading up to the Anders Bjork goal, but he did his penitence or whatever when Evgeny Kuznetsov (two assists) sent him a superhuman pass and Wilson converted. Here's how Chris put it in the Crashers discord.
  • (I'm sure Tom is relieved. Hey, make sure Chris writes about Lars Eller tomorrow morning.)
  • I believe the Caps had converted four of their last 21 power plays (while allowing two shorthanded goals) until cracking the slump late in this game. It's not good, folks. It's not just that they're stale once in formation; they are barely getting into formation. I think improving the PP should become a more urgent concern for the coaching staff. p.s. check out Pat's newsletter, which recently discussed Washington's bad power play.

Not exactly a statement game. The Caps got ran over by the Buffalo Sabres for a stretch there, and didn't protect leads well. They lost a crucial utility player in Nic Dowd. But they got the standings points and they got some fun individual stats, so that's enough for now.

Detroit Thursday. See you then.