Capitals put six past Sabres in season-opening win

[January 15, 2021]  T.J. Oshie recorded a goal and two assists as the visiting Washington Capitals opened the season with a 6-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson each registered a goal and an assist while 35-year-old star Alex Ovechkin notched two assists for the Capitals, who will play at Buffalo again on Friday. Brenden Dillon, Jakub Vrana and Garnet Hathaway also scored for Washington, which got 22 saves from Ilya Samsonov.

Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist in his Sabres debut, and Victor Olofsson and Jake McCabe also put up a goal and an assist apiece. Tobias Rieder also had a goal and Jack Eichel posted two assists for the hosts. Sabres goalie Carter Hutton stopped 22 shots.

Washington led 4-2 after two periods, but Buffalo cut that deficit to one on McCabe's blast from the right point just 20 seconds into the third. The Capitals regained a two-goal edge 26 seconds later when an unchecked Vrana drilled home an Eric Staal giveaway in the slot.

With their goalie pulled, the Sabres got back within a goal when Olofsson took a cross-slot pass from Hall and drilled a shot past Samsonov with 1:54 left in regulation. The Caps, though, put the game away on Hathaway's empty-netter less than a minute later.

Washington opened the scoring 5:43 into the contest. Taking advantage of a slow-footed Buffalo defense, Backstrom scored off a two-on-one with Oshie. Buffalo, however, answered three minutes later when Hall, on the power play, redirected an Olofsson pass past Samsonov.

Washington Capitals left wing Carl Hagelin (62) and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour (62) look for the puck in front of Buffalo Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton (40) during the second period at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

The game didn't stay tied long as Washington went up 2-1 through a power-play goal from Oshie with 9:27 left in the period. The veteran forward corralled the rebound of Ovechkin's slap shot through traffic and pushed it past Hutton.

Carlson, coming off a career-high 75-point season in 2019-20, made it 3-1 at 7:05 of the middle period. Taking a pass from Oshie ahead of the opposing blue line, Carlson streaked in and beat Hutton high post.

The visitors made it a three-goal advantage when defenseman Dillon blasted a shot from the point from a faceoff into traffic and in with 6:37 left in the second period.

Buffalo, however, kept applying pressure in the Capitals' end. The Sabres eventually were rewarded on Rieder's goal amid a scrum in front of the net with 1:14 left in the second.

--Field Level Media

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