Capitals Beat Sabres, 4-2; Tom Wilson Scores Twice

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals downed the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2, Saturday night at Capital One Arena in the District. Goaltender Logan Thompson stoped 19 of 21 shots faced in the win. The victory improves the Capitals record to 21-6-2 (44 points) on the season. Their .759 winning percentage remains best in the NHL.
Jason Zucker gave the Sabres an early 1-0 lead just 1:36 into the first period. The Capitals tied the game late in the period with a power play goal from Tom Wilson for a 1-1 tie at the first intermission.

Tom Wilson gave the Capitals their first lead of the night with his second power play goal of the game early in the middle frame, but the Sabres returned fire with an even-strength marker from Jiri Kulich to make it 2-2 near the midway point of the middle frame. The scored remained heading into the second intermission.

The Capitals regained the lead late in the final frame on Dylan Strome’s 10th goal of the season. Jakob Chychrun added an empty net tally to make it 4-2, the final.


LINEUP

Logan Thompson (11-1-2, 2.48 GAA, .913 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (8-8-3, 2.79 GAA, .903 sv%) got the start in net for the visiting Sabres. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Aliaksei Protas — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Dylan Strome — Taylor Raddysh
Hendrix Lapierre — Lars Eller — Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Ivan Miroshnichenko

Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: Jakub Vrana, Dylan McIlrath, Alexander Alexeyev

Injured: Alex Ovechkin (fractured fibula), Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).


1ST PERIOD

Jason Zucker gave the Sabres an early 1-0 lead just 1:36 into the first period. J. Greenway (4) and R. McLeod (9) had the helpers.

The Capitals tied it up with a power play goal from Tom Wilson (12) at 17:09 of the opening frame. John Carlson (18) setup the tally with a pass on the spot to Wilson’s stick. Connor McMichael (12) was credited with the second assist.

The period concluded with the game knotted up, 1-1. The Sabres led in five-on-five shot attempts, 22-19, in the first period.


2ND PERIOD

Tom Wilson gave the Capitals their first lead of the night with his second power play goal at 5:11 of the middle frame. Jakob Chychrun (11) had the lone assist.

The Sabres tied the game with an even-strength tally from Jiri Kulich (4) at 7:24 of the middle frame. B. Byram (13) and T. Thompson (8) had the helpers.

Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin left the game with a leg injury late in the second period.

The middle frame concluded with the game remaining tied 2-2. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 37-36 and expected goals for (xGF), 1.94 to 1.84 after two periods.


3RD PERIOD

The Capitals regained the lead late in the final frame on Dylan Strome’s 10th goal of the season. John Carlson (19) setup the tally at 8:48. Taylor Raddysh (9) had the second assist.

Jakub Chychrun added an empty net goal late as the Capitals held on for the 4-2 victory.


SHAVINGS (Via Capitals PR)

  • Tom Wilson scored his 12th goal of the season on the power play to tie the game 1-1. It marks Wilson’s team-leading fifth power-play goal of the season and ties his single-season career high (5 PPGs in 2019-20 and 2023-24). Wilson has recorded nine points (6g, 3a) in his last nine games.
  • John Carlson recorded the primary assist on Wilson’s power play goal, his 18th assist of the season. Carlson, Washington’s all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played among defensemen, is now five points shy of 700 career points.
  • Connor McMichael was credited with the secondary assist on Wilson’s goal. McMichael has tallied four points (2g, 2a) in his last six games.
  • Tom Wilson scores his second power-play goal of the game to put the Capitals ahead 2-1. It marks Wilson’s third multi-goal game in his last seven games played (also Dec. 7 at MTL: 2g; Nov. 29 vs. NYI: 2g). With the goal, Wilson has established a new single-season career in power-play goals with six.
  • Jakob Chychrun recorded his 11th assist of the season on Wilson’s second goal, extending his point and assist streak to three games (0g-4a-4p). Chychrun ranks tied for first on the Capitals in points (3g-8a–11p) since Nov. 21, Washington’s first game without Alex Ovechkin.
  • Dylan Strome scored his 10th goal of the season to give Washington a 3-2 lead with 9:55 remaining in regulation, marking his team-leading 37th point of the season. With the goal, Strome extends his point streak to three games (2g-1a-3p). Strome has recorded at least one point in 22 of Washington’s 29 games this season.
  • Strome has recorded four points (3g, 1a) in his last four games against Buffalo dating back to last season.
  • John Carlson tallied his second assist of the game on Strome’s go-ahead goal, marking his third multi-assist performance of the season. Carlson (154g-542a-696p in 1,038 GP) is now four points shy of becoming the 31st defenseman in NHL history with 700 career points.
  • Taylor Raddysh was credited with the secondary assist on Washington’s third goal, his ninth assist of the season. Raddysh (4g-9a-13p in 29 GP) is one point shy of tying his point total from last season (5g-9a-14p in 73 GP) in 44 less games.
  • Jakob Chychrun scored his ninth goal of the season with 1:30 remaining in the third period to extend Washington’s lead to 4-2. Chychrun’s nine goals this season rank tied for second among NHL defensemen.
  • With their 4-2 win over Buffalo, the Capitals extended their season-long point streak to nine games (8-0-1), which is the longest point streak by a team this season.
  • Washington has allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of its last 14 games.
  • The Capitals’ 21 wins are the second most in the NHL, trailing only the Winnipeg Jets, who have played three more games.

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.

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