Photo: @Capitals
The Washington Capitals lost to the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 4-3 in a shootout at KeyBank Center on Monday night to fall 26-11-4 (.700 points percentage) this season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves in the loss.
Washington’s Lines
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Taylor Raddysh
Aliaksei Protas — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana – Connor McMichael — Lars Eller
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Andrew Mangiapane
Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Lindgren
Logan Thompson
- Scratched
- LW Ivan Miroshnichenko
- D Dylan McIlrath
- D Alexander Alexeyev
- Injured
- LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
- C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
- RW T.J. Oshie (back)
Buffalo’s Lines
Jason Zucker — Dylan Cozens — Tage Thompson
J.J. Peterka — Ryan McLeod — Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Jiri Kulich — Peyton Krebs
Jack Quinn — Sam Lafferty — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Rasmus Dahlin — Bowen Byram
Owen Power — Connor Clifton
Mattias Samuelsson — Henri Jokiharju
Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen
James Reimer
- Scratched
- Injured
- LW Beck Malenstyn (ill)
- D Jacob Bryson (ill)
- LW Jordan Greenway (mid-body)
First Period
Scoring
- 4:42, 1-0 Buffalo: Peterka snapped one past the glove of Lindgren from the right dot after Tuch fought off two Capitals defenders on his way to the net and the puck went to him.
JJ Peterka in his 200th @NHL game ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/5IREquitTj
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 7, 2025
- 6:10, 1-1 (PPG): Wilson slapped a one-timer below the blocker of Lukkonen from the slot after Chychrun fed him from the right half-wall and Eller dropped the puck to Chychrun on his right. Wilson extends his point streak to four games (3-3-6) and his goal streak to three games. It marks Wilson’s team-leading eighth power-play goal of the season. With the goal, Wilson has set a new career high in power-play points (8-3-11). Chychrun has recorded 20 points (6-14-20) in his last 20 games dating back to November 25, the most on the Capitals in that span. Strome extended his point and assist streak to four games (1-5-6). Strome has recorded nine points (4-5-9) in his last eight games against Buffalo dating back to the 2022-23 season. Chychrun’s 28 points through his first 35 games with the franchise are the most by a defenseman.
That’s a three-game goal streak for Tom Wilson! 👏 #NHLStats: https://t.co/WprUnHqRLh
📺: @NHLNetwork pic.twitter.com/YjuiANBZN2
— NHL (@NHL) January 7, 2025
Stats
- 10-6 Buffalo in shots
- .65 Buffalo on draws
- Each team earned one power play
- 7-1 Washington in hits
- 7-5 Buffalo in blocked shots
- 8-4 Washington in giveaways
Charts: Natural StatTrick
Second Period
Scoring
- 1:07, 2-1 Buffalo: After Tuch poked the puck behind Chychrun at the defensive blueline, he skated in on a breakaway and ripped a wrist shot over the glove of Lindgren.
Tuchy you THIEF 😤#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/IUxA15Pwul
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 7, 2025
- 11:29, 2-2: Wilson hammered a rebound in front of the net after Lukkonen shut down the five-hole on Protas, who wristed one from the slot, after Carlson was battling for a loose puck. Monday marked Wilson’s fifth multi-goal game of the season, two of which have come against the Sabres (also December 14: two). Protas has recorded 13 points (9-4-13) in his last 15 games. Carlson earned his 699th career point.
There’s having a goalie’s number and then there’s Tom Wilson vs. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen— he’s got 6 goals on 7 SHOTS in his career against him 🫨
(h/t @AchesonJonah) pic.twitter.com/gKGeHrFUX8
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 7, 2025
- 12:49, 3-2 Buffalo: Thompson blasted one over the blocker of Lindgren from the left dot after Dahlin fed him from the top.
TAGE.#LetsGoBuffalo | RYSE Energy Drink pic.twitter.com/9Mhjoe31nZ
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 7, 2025
Stats
- 18-15 Buffalo in shots
- Buffalo had two power play opportunities through 40 minutes
- 19-7 Washington in hits
- 14-12 Buffalo in blocked shots
- 13-5 Washington in giveaways
- 4-0 Washington in takeaways
Third Period
Scoring
- 15:47, 3-3: Protas got a stick on a puck that floated over the glove of Luukonen in front after Carlson fed him from the side of the net and Dubois set up Carlson from the top. Carlson became the seventh active NHL defenseman to score his 700th career point.
#ALLCAPS 3-3. PROTAS TIES IT LATE pic.twitter.com/o4qdndjqsa
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) January 7, 2025
Stats
- 25-22 Washington in shots
- including 10-4 in third period
- Washington finished one for two on power plays
- Buffalo scored once on three
- 22-10 Washington in hits
- 20-12 Buffalo in blocked shots
- 19-10 Washington in giveaways
- 8-2 Washington in takeaways
Overtime
Scoring: N/A
Shots: 28-27 Washington but 5-3 Buffalo in overtime
Shootout
- Dubois took the puck wide, walked in, and ripped a wrist shot over the blocker of Lukkonen at the bottom of the first round
- Tuch dangled to get Lindgren out of the net and slammed one past Lindgren in the bottom of the third
- Peterka ripped a shot past the blocker of Lindgren to win it
Washington is now five points ahead of the New Jersey Devils with three games in hand on them after Monday night and six in front of the Carolina Hurricanes (with both teams having played 40 games) for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Next game: Wednesday vs. Vancouver Canucks (7:30 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network 2 in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market).
By Harrison Brown
