The Washington Capitals dropped a 4-3 decision in the shootout against the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center on Monday night. Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored the goals in the shootout to lift the Sabres past the Caps.
Tom Wilson scored twice for the Washington Capitals, with Aliaksei Protas adding the other. Meanwhile, Tage Thompson (PPG) scored for the Sabres with Tuch and Peterka adding the others in regulation.
So, here’s a look at the three key reasons why the Washington Capitals lost to the Buffalo Sabres in the shootout.
3 reasons why Washington Capitals lost to Buffalo Sabres in shootout
#3 The Caps chased the game from start to finish
The Sabres opened the scoring on Peterka’s 11th of the season in the first. From there, the Washington Capitals spent the entire night chasing the game. Tom Wilson scored with the man advantage to tie the game less than two minutes later.
Then, Tuch scored early in the second to give the Sabres a 2-1. After Wilson scored again to tie the game at two, Tage Thompson got the lead back for the Sabres a little over a minute later.
In the third, the Caps struggled to tie the game until Protas scored with less than five minutes to go to send the game to overtime. In the end, the Caps could not pull off the comeback, surrendering the all-important second point.
#2 The Caps dominated but couldn’t get past the Sabres
The Washington Capitals dominated most of the game. The Caps outshot the Sabres 28-27, but had a decided edge in hits, 23-10, and registered more takeaways by a margin of 8-2.
However, the Sabres hung tough and showed their resilience. The Sabres managed to stay in the game despite losing 54% of the draws. The Sabres managed to make the most of their scoring chances, forcing the Capitals to chase the game.
In the end, the Sabres outlasted the Capitals, bringing home two much-needed points.
#1 The Sabres shut down Ovechkin
The Capitals did not get the offense they needed from captain Alex Ovechkin. In such a tight game, Ovechkin could have been the difference-maker. However, the Sabres did a good job of keeping him in check.
While Ovechkin got five shots on goal, none of them hit the back of the net. Other top scorers like Connor McMichael failed to get on the board. While John Carlson registered two assists, it wasn’t enough to help the Capitals get past the Sabres.
The Capitals will get the day off on Tuesday before taking on the Vancouver Canucks at home on Wednesday night.