Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550/WBEN) - The Sabres withstood two early goals from Washington and earned a hard fought 4-3 shootout win over the Capitals Saturday night at KeyBank Center. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was strong in net in only his second start of the season, stopping 31 shots and all five Capitals in the shootout. Bowen Byram netted the game winner in the shootout, while Isak Rosen scored his first career NHL goal in the victory.
The scoring came early and often to start the game as the Capitals scored twice in just 2:15 minutes. First it was Dylan Strome getting the Capitals on the board putting home a rebound. Then Aliaksei Protas converted a 2-on-0.
The Sabres would storm back though, with Tage Thompson ripping home a one-timer on a pass by Jason Zucker from behind the net just :15 later.
Then midway through the first Buffalo erased their early deficit as Alex Tuch scored on a break on a nice feed from Josh Doan.
Buffalo would then take the lead late in the first as Isak Rosen snapped home his first career NHL goal to make it 3-2 heading to the first intermission.
Both teams had a chance on the power play in the second period, but neither team could score with the man advantage. The score would remain the same until the final minute of the period as Sonny Milano deflected a Matt Roy point shot to even the score 3-3 heading to the final period of play.
The Sabres got into penalty trouble in the third period taking three straight penalties in the final frame. But the penalty kill was up to the task keeping Washington off the board with the man advantage and the game headed to overtime tied 3-3.
After neither team could win it in overtime, it would be a lengthy shootout as we'd see five shooters aside. It would be the fifth shooter for Buffalo as Bowen Byram snapped one past Charlie Lindgren, and then Luukkonen shut the door on Ryan Leonard to earn the 4-3 shootout win.
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GAME RECAP
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 2:30 - Tage Thompson (5) (Jason Zucker), 10:02 - Alex Tuch (5) (Josh Doan, Owen Power) 18:45 - Isak Rosen (1) (Jack Quinn, Conor Timmins)
WSH: 1:07 - Dylan Strome (3) (Ryan Leonard), 2:15 - Aliaksei Protas (5) (Connor McMichael, Tom Wilson)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
WSH: 19:17 - Sonny Milano (1) (Matt Roy, Martin Fehervary)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
WSH: NONE
Overtime:
BUF: NONE
WSH: NONE
Shootout:
BUF: Jack Quinn - Miss
WSH: Dylan Strome - Miss
BUF: Tage Thompson - Miss
WSH: Anthony Beauvillier - Miss
BUF: Alex Tuch - Miss
WSH: Connor McMichael - Miss
BUF: Rasmus Dahlin - Miss
WSH: Alex Ovechkin - Miss
BUF: Bowen Byram - GOAL
WSH: Ryan Leonard - Miss
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STATS OF THE GAME:
Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen - BUF
2.) Isak Rosen - BUF
3.) Bowen Byram - BUF
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What's next: The Sabres welcome J.J. Peterka and the Utah Mammoth to Buffalo on Tuesday night for a 7:00 p.m. ET faceoff at KeyBank Center. Catch all of the action on WGR Sports Radio 550 starting with the pregame at 6:00 p.m. ET with Mike Schopp and The Bulldog.