WASHINGTON, DC — If Alex Tuch had a “big dumb smile” just imagining playing against the Buffalo Sabres, the reality of Saturday’s game gave him a face-splitting grin.
Tuch put up a storybook night in his first game against his former team, scoring the overtime game-winner and notching two goals in the 4-3 Capitals win.
“Feels pretty good — yeah, no, it feels really good,” Tuch said of the experience.
A Syracuse, NY native, Tuch grew up cheering for Buffalo. He still cherishes his five years with the organization, where he helped break a 14-season playoff drought this spring, and praised both the team and its players even as he worked to defeat them this weekend.
“I loved playing for the Sabres, and I think everyone knows that,” he said. “And when you play against your former team, I’ve done it a couple times before, you always want to score, and to be able to get the game-winner was pretty special.”
Tuch’s old teammates spoke just as highly of him in return.
“He’s a good player — he’s a really good player,” said Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin. “He’s smart. Both ends, he makes great reads. He can score. He can do it all. A hell of a player.”
After expressing his excitement for the matchup beforehand, Tuch admitted postgame that he’d had some jitters lining up against Buffalo.
“It was weird,” he said. “I was a little bit more nervous than I thought I was going to be. I care a lot about those guys. But no, I was just really happy to get the win tonight.”
Tuch and the Sabres had some time to catch up before the game, meeting up for dinner on Friday night, but that didn’t make them any less talkative on the ice.
“You could see when he hopped on the ice, he was bantering with their guys a little bit,” said goaltender Charlie Lindgren.
Even despite the chirping, Tuch enjoyed lining up against his former brothers in arms.
“Seeing all those guys was really cool,” he said. “I didn’t look over there too much at warm-ups. I wanted to get going. And then once you pass them on the ice in the game, it’s kind of tough. And you’re going into the battles and lining up next to guys. And, of course, they want to say something. No, it’s all in good fun. I love playing against those guys.”
Tuch’s old pals lent him a hand for his first goal of the night, which came late in the opening period. When Tuch tried to send a pass across the netfront, the puck instead ricocheted off the stick of Tage Thompson, flying straight through Louis Crevier and past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to hit the back of the net.
Thompson assisted on 32 of Tuch’s goals during their time as teammates, so the play gave Tuch some deja vu.
“I told [Thompson], ‘I can always find your stick,” Tuch joked. “And it’s always on the backhand too — no, I’m just (kidding).
“No, that was a crazy bounce, obviously. It was kind of the break I thought we needed to get back on the horse there and start pressuring them a little bit more…I was looking for Stromer, but got a lucky bounce.”
The game-winning goal was a little more intentional and a lot prettier. With less than 90 seconds left in overtime, Dylan Strome collected the puck behind Buffalo’s net, while Jakob Chychrun screened Luukkonen in front. All three Sabres skaters were focused on Strome when he passed to Tuch in the high slot, giving him all the space he needed to rifle the puck in and end the game.
Tuch has scored the game-winning goal in four of Washington’s six victories this season, the most of anyone in the NHL, and his nine points (7g, 3a) now tie Ryan Leonard for the Capitals lead.
“You talk about a heck of a hockey player: we’re lucky to have him, and he seems to be a game breaker, game in and game out for us,” Lindgren said of Tuch’s night. “And then cherry on top for him, scoring against his old team. He’s got some bragging rights there.”
The Capitals, for their part, rallied around Tuch throughout the night, starting with a serenade before warmups.
He also became the recipient of the team’s new “Legend of the Game” helmet, though the Capitals apparently only posted a portion of the celebrations to social media.
“Our guys are just happy for him and smiling ear-to-ear,” said head coach Spencer Carbery. “And in the locker room, you’ll probably see some interesting videos in there, I’m sure, unless we cut some of it.”
“We will,” quipped a Capitals PR representative.
Not only did Saturday’s win prevent Washington from skidding after a frustrating loss to the LA Kings on Tuesday, but Tuch’s success also gave players someone to rally around, an opportunity to honor a teammate who has been one of the Capitals’ best players so far this fall.
“There’s a lot of emotion involved (in playing your old team),” Carbery said. “I know all the guys play it off and go, ‘It’s just another game once the puck drops’ and that. But there’s no — when you’ve been a part of a team for so long, there’s a lot of emotional investment in the game, because you’re going up against guys that six months ago you were in playoff series battling with, and shoulder-to-shoulder with your brothers.
“So for him to play that way in front of his old teammates, I was proud of him, and I know the guys are too.”
