WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 Saturday night, bouncing back from a deficit after going down less than two minutes into the first period. The Capitals have proved remarkably resilient when playing from behind: they earned their league-leading 13th comeback win of the year against the Sabres.
Still, while the team has been excellent at clawing back to a win, Washington has made a pattern of falling behind early, allowing its opponent to score first seven times in the last 10 games. Head coach Spencer Carbery discussed his mixed feelings on the Caps’ comeback record, praising his players for their ability to come from behind while expressing concern about the need to do so.
“I love, [I’ve] said it for a long time, the resiliency and the belief and it never shakes inside of our room,” he said postgame. “So even when I’m unhappy or guys know that we haven’t found our best, there’s still a strong, strong belief that we’re going to find a way to get that goal or change momentum or have one good period tonight to win a hockey game. So our guys deserve a ton of credit for that because that’s not an easy thing to do. That can go the other way. We just have a ton of belief inside of our room. And part of that is having success in those moments and so it builds, it builds, it builds.
“And now we’re just very confident in those moments, but you’re playing with fire. We are playing with fire when you’re constantly trailing in games. And the score is the score, you don’t want to give up that first goal, but we just, yeah, we’ve got to continue to build our game. The wins and points in this league — it’s never easy to win hockey games in the National Hockey League, so we will take that all day long. But we also too are a mature group and understand that we’ve got to work to get better and be able to stay more consistent with them, especially on home ice.”
Although they’ve continued to allow deficits, Dylan Strome credited the team’s culture for their ability to overcome them.
“I feel like we know we’re going to get chances to score. And we’ve been having guys bear down and make the right play to finish them off. I mean, last year, we keep talking about it but we didn’t have that team confidence to find a way to score. And this year, the pucks are going in. So it feels like, the team confidence is there, that we know we’re going to get chances.
“We’ve got to bear down, and guys are putting them in, and guys are having career years. And it’s fun to be a part of. Everyone is chipping in. And we expect a lot of each other. I think that’s another thing. Guys get frustrated on the bench, but it’s only because they care. Guys want to score, want to help, want to be on the ice. And it’s a competitive team, and it’s a winning culture. So the guys that have been here for a while built that, and it’s fun to play for.”
Nearly 30 games into the season, the Caps, first in the Eastern Conference, have found success with their comeback strategy and now hold a better record when their opponents strike first (11-3-1) than when they do (10-3-1).
Will it continue? That’s another question altogether.
