Home / Game Recap / A hard fought shootout victory: Capitals beat Sabres 3-2

A hard fought shootout victory: Capitals beat Sabres 3-2

By Chris Cerullo

 6 Comments

December 11, 2021 9:52 pm

The Washington Capitals took on the Buffalo Sabres for the second time this season. It was a hockey night in Buffalo as the Caps looked to bounce back from a loss to the Pens 24 hours earlier.

Lars Eller struck first as he potted a saucy feed from Conor Sheary behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Vinnie Hinostroza capitalized on a bad defensive change from the Caps and tied things up with a breakaway tally.

Will Butcher gave the Sabres their first lead of the game as he jumped up into the play. Martin Fehervary tied the game once more as Alex Ovechkin fed him a one-timer. We got nada in overtime so here are your shootout bullets.

  • Thompson did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Sprong put the biscuit in the basket
  • Cozens did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Kuznetsov did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Olofsson put the biscuit in the basket
  • Oshie put the biscuit in the basket

Capitals beat Sabres 3-2!

  • The first period was not good. It felt like the Caps spent almost the entire back half of the period dealing with a Sabres cycle. More of the sloppiness from the game against the Pens and this time on tired legs.
  • By the end of the season how many times do you think we will hear Drew Brees tell us to live our sports betting life?
  • I miss Trevor van Riemsdyk. It shows when you can actually notice a “third pairing” defenseman is not in the lineup. TVR is great.

  • The second period was worse as the Caps just glided through the period doing absolutely nothing. Lot of long passes to no one. Just absolutely no rhythm to their game. Not fun.
  • At least Lars Eller seems to have hit his stride. Goals in back-to-back games for the Tiger.
  • Scary high stick from Kyle Okposo on TJ Oshie. It looked like Osh was bleeding but luckily survived any sort of damage to the teeth or eyes.
  • The power play has been so obviously devoid of new ideas the entire season. It’s a literal chore to watch. The team seems perfectly fine just powering through the mediocreness (is this a word?) though.

  • The Capitals’ third period looked like a different team. They finally got things going five-on-five and were moving their legs. An encouraging end to the game.
  • I thought Vitek Vanecek was very good and that’s encouraging because I think he’s been a bit shaky in his other recent chances. He just had to play in front of a very rusty, tired, and hurt Capitals team. I said something similar about Ilya Samsonov in the numbers post this morning before any pitchforks are raised in the comments.
  • Martin Fehervary scores a day after taking a blatant headshot from Brock McGinn. I was just happy he was good to go tonight. Shame on the league for doing absolutely nothing about that hit.

The Caps have a handful of days off before another game. They’ll be on the road in Chicago when things get back going on December 15…hopefully healthier.

Headline image via @Jencapsfan74

, ,