Washington, D.C. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres' losing streak extends to nine games, as they fall Saturday night to the Washington Capitals, 4-2, at Capital One Arena in the nation's capital.
Capitals winger Tom Wilson scored twice on the power play to lead the way for Washington in the victory.
The Sabres got out to a quick start, as Jason Zucker created traffic in front and got credited for the opening goal of the game off a Jordan Greenway deflection just 1:36 into the game.
The score remained the same until late in the first period when Owen Power went to the box for a holding penalty. Washington tied the game at 1-1, as Wilson scored with the man advantage.
Early in the second period, Zach Benson took a tripping penalty, resulting in another Capitals power play.
It was Wilson, again, scoring with the man advantage, giving Washington the 2-1 lead just 5:11 into the middle frame.
Buffalo responded right back to tie the game at 2-2, as Jiri Kulich posted up in front of the Washington net and deflected a Bowen Byram point shot past Thompson.
Midway through the third period, Dylan Stome gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead on a redirection in front off a feed from John Carlson from the point.
Then with Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on the bench, Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun sealed the win with an empty-net goal, making it 4-2 in the final minutes of the game.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 1:36 - Jason Zucker (8) (Jordan Greenway, Ryan McLeod)
WSH: 17:09 - Tom Wilson (12) PPG (John Carlson, Connor McMichael)
Second Period:
BUF: 7:24 - Jiri Kulich (4) (Bowen Byram, Tage Thompson)
WSH: 5:11 - Tom Wilson (13) PPG (Jakob Chychrun)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
WSH: 11:05 - Dylan Strome (10) (John Carlson, Taylor Raddish); 18:30 - Jakob Chychrun (9) ENG (John Carlson, Pierre-Luc Dubois)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Tom Wilson - WSH
2.) Dylan Strome - WSH
3.) John Carlson - WSH
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What's next:
The Sabres' road trip continues Sunday as they head north to take on the division rival Toronto Maple Leafs for a 5 p.m. EST faceoff. Catch all of the action on The Bet 1520 AM, starting with pregame coverage at 4 p.m. EST with Brian Koziol.