The Washington Capitals went down 3-1 after the first period to another hockey team from New York on Wednesday but this time they were able to dig up from their hole and earn two full standings points. The 5-4 comeback victory allows them to cling to their dwindling playoff chances in the Eastern Conference.

Fun to watch but still probably too late.

• After another slow start at least on the scoreboard, the Caps really turned it up a notch when they needed to in this game. At five-on-five in the third period, they out-attempted Buffalo 24 to 14, out-scoring chanced them 13 to 8, and out-high danger chanced them 4 to 2. They finished the game ahead of Buffalo in all three of those categories over the full 65 minutes of action.
• The team’s best line who were also given the tough assignment of playing against Tage Thompson’s trio, was the fourth line. The Nic Dowd line didn’t exactly fill up the scoresheet but they were incredibly effective against one of the league’s best players and had multiple extended offensive-zone shifts of their own. With Nicolas Aube-Kubel on the ice at five-on-five, the Caps held positive differentials in shot attempts (+12), scoring chances (+5), and high-danger chances (+3). Never sit Aliaksei Protas ever again. Okay, thanks.
• The captain was back for this one and the Caps don’t win without him. Alex Ovechkin first set up TJ Oshie’s goal on a power play with a deft slap pass that bounced around the crease. He then deflected home his 817th career goal to bring him 77 goals within Wayne Gretzky.

Strome (6-game point streak: 3g, 7a), van Riemsdyk (4-game point streak: 1g, 4a) and Oshie (4-game point streak: 2g, 3a) all extended their respective points streaks. Strome's 6-game point streak ties a career high, while van Riemsdyk's 4-game point streak is a career high.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 16, 2023

• I remarked that I was interested in Alex Alexeyev‘s deployment moving forward because he got almost exclusively offensive zone starts against the Rangers. Well, he got almost exclusively defensive zone starts against the Sabres. And, he was fantastic. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Caps out-attempted Buffalo 17 to 9, out-scoring chanced them 8 to 4, and out-high danger chanced them 3 to 0. So, yea. I’m still going to follow that.
• Another young defender had a big night as the game saw both Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen leave at different times due to injury. Martin Fehervary played a career-high 25:22 of ice time in the win.
• Remember when I said never sit Aliaksei Protas ever again? I meant it. In this game, Protas recorded seven shots on goal (led the team), eight individual shot attempts, six individual scoring chances (led the team), and four individual high-danger chances (led the team).

Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.