Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres finished the home schedule the right way on Thursday, beating the Washington Capitals, 4-2, on Fan Appreciation Night.
The Caps are one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but I thought Washington and their captain, Alex Ovechkin, were complete no-shows in this game.
Buffalo was eliminated on Tuesday night, but played with pride in this game, including a game-ending brawl that included all five Sabres skaters.
For two seasons, Buffalo was one of the worst home teams in the National Hockey League. However, starting Feb. 25 against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Sabres went 9-3-0 and 7-2-0 at home. The 9-3-0 mark is fifth-best home record in the league during that time period.
The Sabres didn’t have a good first period, but they left with a 1-0 lead because Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 11 saves, and Zach Benson went to the net and tipped in his 10th goal of the season.
The Caps had four shots on goal in the second period.
Alex Tuch made it 2-0 when he dragged the puck so Connor McMichael would screen Charlie Lindgren. It was Tuch's 22nd goal of the season.
Connor Clifton made a nice pass in the third period to Jack Quinn, and then went straight to the net to screen Lindgren. Quinn walked Nick Jensen and went right to the slot, and if you give him that kind of time and space with the shot he has, it’s going in.
Ovechkin didn't score a goal against Buffalo in three games this season. Before this year, Ovechkin had 41 goals in 62 games against the Sabres.
I don’t know why it took until Game 80 for this team to band together, but Rasmus Dahlin got tied up with T.J. Oshie and Dylan Strome, and a 6-on-5 fight broke out. Tom Wilson tends to do dirty stuff that gets him suspended, but Jordan Greenway showed up to get him away from Dahlin and Clifton, knowing Wilson is one of the toughest in the NHL.
For those of you that think goons like Matt Rempe and Ryan Reaves belong in the league, Wilson is the standard. He’s one of the most feared players and fighters in the league, and he’s also a hockey player with 18 goals and 33 points in 71 games.
Getting back to this fight, Tage Thompson got squared off with Max Pacioretty and just pummeled him. The five Sabres on the ice were all in it together, but it shouldn’t have taken 80 games for it to happen.
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The Sabres have Friday off and then travel to Sunrise to play the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Florida is one point behind the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division. Neither team plays on Friday, but the Bruins play in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
As good as the home record has been lately, the road record has been awful, with Buffalo losing 7-of-9 games.
Join Brian Koziol and myself on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET for pregame coverage on WGR, as we’ll feature a Sabres Season In Review special.
