*Photo from the Connecticut Post*
Well, hello there, desperation rally. Tom Wilson scored the tying goal, TJ Oshie won the game, and the Washington Capitals rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres with a 5-4 shootout victory on Wednesday night in Washington.
The win moves Washington 5 points back of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, with the Capitals still facing an uphill climb. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin each had a goal and an assist, while Dylan Strome had a two assist game.
Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said after the game that "It was really good. It was a team effort. We need everybody on that rope and pulling things in our direction. There's no question our big guys had some big games."
Ilya Lyubushkin scored 4:49 into the game, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead on his second goal of the season. At the 8:50 mark of the period, JJ Peterka scored to double the Sabres lead to 2-0. Oshie then scored a power play goal to cut the deficit to 2-1 before Tyson Jost scored to make it 3-1 Sabres after one period.
After a scoreless second period, Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 1:32 into the 3rd period to cut the Capitals deficit to 3-2. Zemgus Girgensons then scored 5:22 into the 3rd to make the score 4-2 on his 9th goal of the season. Ovechkin cut the deficit to 4-3 on his 37th goal of the season before Wilson scored the tying goal to force overtime.
Overtime went scoreless, leading to a shootout. Both Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson couldn't score for the Sabres, while Kuznetsov and Oshie scored for the Capitals, with Oshie's goal going down as the game winner.
Oshie said of the comeback win that "Every game has to kind of be a playoff mentality for us, and there's no time like playoffs when you're down goals and able to fuel comebacks. There was some desperation out there that you typically see in the postseason, some big goals out of our big guys, some incredible setup shifts before those goals."
Getting the start for the Capitals was Charlie Lindgren, who had a solid game as he battled back to get the win. Lindgren stopped 23 of the 27 shots the Sabres sent at him, good for a .852 save percentage. His record is now 13-8-2 on the season.
It was Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who started in net for the Sabres, losing in the shootout to drop to 15-10-4 in 29 starts. Luukkonen turned away 35 out of the 39 shots on goal that the Capitals had, recording a .897 save percentage.
Tuch said of the loss that "We had the lead for the whole game and then a couple bad mistakes, mine in particular. It's not the time. It's unacceptable. I'm not a rookie. I've been in this league a couple years now and I know time management. I felt like I let the team down tonight."
Both teams get back in game action on Friday night. The Capitals take on the St. Louis Blues at home, with Darcy Kuemper expected to start. Luukkonen is lined up to start for the Sabres against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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