(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres dropped their fifth-straight game on Monday, losing 5-3 in Washington to the Capitals.
Many would say the Capitals were lucky scoring goals that would hit two or three players before it went by Dustin Tokarski. The fact is luck had very little to do with it.
Washington had players planted in front of Tokarski all night long. If Buffalo wants to win games, the defensemen have to do a better job of getting those players out of there so Tokarski can see the shots. Cody Eakin agreed during his postgame comments, saying it's a detail they must work on.
Tom Wilson got the first goal of the game when a shot from Trevor van Riemsdyk hit Alex Ovechkin and then went in off of Wilson’s arm.
The second goal from Connor McMichael went in off of Christian Wolanin, playing in his first game as a member of the Sabres.
The third goal hit Drake Caggiula and then Ovechkin, as he netted his league-leading 11th goal of the season.
The fifth Washington goal came off a power play point shot from John Carlson that went in due to a heavy screen by Wilson.
The Sabres are way too soft in front of the net and make almost no effort to get guys out of there.
“We have to do better. We need to get into the shot lane up at the top," said Sabres head coach Don Granato following the loss. "They’re going by somebody that should be in the shot lane and block a shot. If not, pressure them quicker so there’s a quicker release, so bodies don’t get to the front of the net. Or pressure them quicker so our guys can step out quicker and block it so 'Ticker' [Tokarski] doesn’t even have to see it. But in a game like that, that was the deciding factor in the game.”
I think this game was also lost in the first period when the Sabres had almost no puck possession and chased the Capitals all over the ice. The shots were 12-6 Washington, and the score easily could’ve been worse than 1-0.
After Washington made it 2-0, I thought the Sabres perked up. They were hard in the offensive zone, led by the Eakin line.
That line’s play had really deteriorated during the losing streak, but they looked more like themselves in the second period. That led to a goal when Ovechkin blew a tire, handing the puck right to Eakin for a breakaway. He beat Vitek Vanecek with a real nice shot.
The Ovechkin goal in the second seemed to take a little of the wind away from the Sabres' effort.
The one line that was consistently good on the forecheck was Tage Thompson, Rasmus Asplund and Jeff Skinner. They produced chances and had zone time at the offensive end.
With the schedule since Thursday night in Seattle, this wasn’t an easy game. To their credit, except for letting folks stand in front of their net, the Sabres fought through it. It wasn’t their best game, but they certainly never gave up.
After the game, Granato revealed that defenseman Will Butcher had been playing through an injury, so they thought it was a time for him to rest. That put Wolanin in the lineup for his first game with the Sabres, and it put Rasmus Dahlin with Mark Pysyk.
Pysyk had the calming effect on Dahlin that I thought he would. I thought Dahlin was steady and played his best game in awhile.
Wolanin was on the ice for two Washington goals and struggled, but he hadn’t played a game since being claimed off waivers in mid-October from the Los Angeles Kings. He also hadn’t played any NHL games since the 2020-21 season, and even then only got into 18 games.
It was quite obvious Wolanin was rusty, and he only saw 8:18 of action.
The Sabres will have Tuesday off and then practice on Wednesday and Thursday, before the Edmonton Oilers come to town on Friday night.
