Photo credit: Rob Carr

If there was one moment that epitomized Tuesday’s game, it came in the waning moments of the second period. With the Capitals on the power play with chance to narrow the Sabres lead to one heading into the final intermission, Keith Aucoin chipped the puck along the boards to Alex Ovechkin, who was playing the point at the blueline. Ovi fumbled the slow moving puck, got out muscled by Jason Pominville and then stumbled to the ice. Pominville finished the sequence by deflating any hope there was on the Capitals bench when his shot hit the back of the net. Ovechkin smashed his stick against the goal post in frustration.

In sharp contrast to Sunday, chants of “Ovi!” came not from the home fans, but some in the large and vocal Sabres contingent. The game was over, though Buffalo wasn’t done scoring. It ended with a 5-1 Sabres victory and a mostly empty Verizon Center.

“We dig ourselves a hole there and we get some life back in the building at 3-1 and the fourth one really hurt us, so did the fifth one,” Brooks Laich said after the game.

Ovechkin offered a simple explanation.

“I don’t think we play bad we just made mistakes in own zone,” he said. “When they score shorthanded, I should play my skate not my stick but, you know, it happens.”

This was a match-up Dale Hunter compared to a game seven in the playoffs. Which is not an untrue statement if you recall the Caps’ 6-2 defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Washington to end their 2009 season. Verizon Center had the same stunned feel as the third period ticked away Tuesday night. But after the game, Hunter and the rest of the team attempted to play it down and focus on their five remaining contests. That’s obviously valid. After all, they’re not going to get those proverbial four points back by sulking.

“It actually becomes very simple,” said Laich. “Life right now becomes very simple. You focus on your games and what you can control and you can’t look any further than that. And if you put your best effort in, I believe in this group. I believe we’re going to get in. These next five games, they’re going to tell the story of our hockey games.”

Added Karl Alzner: “We’re going to have to be a desperate hockey team, every single second of every game.”

It wasn’t just who they played. It wasn’t just how they played. It was the brilliantly awful way they showed up to the biggest game of their season. At 9:29 p.m. it came to a merciful end. The remaining fans were silent and the Buffalo Sabres laughed and high five’d as they walked down the tunnel to the visitor’s locker room. The Washington Capitals are now in ninth place.

Just another night at the office for Ovechkin: a goal, two assists and the invention of a new dance. (Photo credit: Mitchell Layton)

Referee Bill McCreary is honored with his wife Mary Ann and daughter Melissa, along with Vice President and Caps General Manger George McPhee before officiating his final NHL game. (Photo credit: Mitchell Layton)

On Fan Appreciation Day, the Capitals certainly rewarded their supporters. In front of 18,398 deafening fans — good for the Caps’ 100th consecutive sellout — Washington pulled out a thrilling overtime victory, moving into the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Caps struck first and early when just 37 seconds in John Carlson fired a wrist shot that Buffalo Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth failed to collect. The red-hot Mike Knuble then did his usual dirty work in the crease to net the opening tally.

Washington jumped out to a two goal lead at 4:41 when Alexander Semin — who was on the ice for eight chances for and three against — scored a similar goal to Knuble’s, tapping in Nicklas Backstrom’s rebound behind Enroth. PANIC!!!1 Timeout Buffalo.

Lindy Ruff’s T.O. would work wonders as just 1:51 later Tomas Vanek put the Sabres on the board as he tipped in Jason Pominville’s shot. At 9:28 Buffalo tied the game when Drew Stafford unleashed what appeared to be a weak, harmless looking shot from the point. After glancing off Jeff Schultz’s leg, the bouncing biscuit went five-hole on Michal Neuvirth, who appeared never to see it.

In the second, both team were even at 11 shots on goal for the frame, but neither converted on their chances.

The teams remained scoreless for most of the third period until Paul Gaustad broke in behind the Capitals defense and faked out Neuvirth to give Buffalo the 3-2 lead.

Less than two minutes later, however, Knuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuble netted his second goal of the match, as he deflected Brooks Laich’s shot from the point on the man advantage to tie the game once again.

But speaking of second goals, it was Stafford who struck again for the Sabres, scoring 2:31 after Knuble’s marker when Carlson ran into Neuvirth, preventing him from making the save. The head coach appeared enraged at rookie defenseman on television, yelling: “What the [Boudreau] was that?”. BRUCE MAD!

“I just talked to him about it,” Bruce Boudreau said after the game. “It’s under four minutes to go in the game and we’re killing a penalty and we didn’t have full control even. We’re just taking off. We can’t do that. And then we have to come back like a chicken with their heads cut off.”

With just 52 seconds left and Neuvirth pulled the Caps netted the tying tally in dramatic fashion as Jason Arnott backhanded home Alex Ovechkin’s rebound, his 400th career goal.

It was also the Capitals’ second power play marker of the game. The captain summed it up well.

“Power play worked today good,” Ovechkin said.

Boudreau agreed.

“Anytime we can score a power play goal it’s a beautiful thing,” he remarked.

“Good for our confidence,” said Marcus Johansson of the power play. “You feel you can score when you have to score.”

In overtime, well, you know what it was: Ovi Time. Ovechkin curled and dragged pass two Sabres before firing a wrist shot pass Enroth. Boom. First place. WINGS! IS PARTY NOW! WE WE WE SO EXCITED! Shall we dance? Caps shock Sabres, 5-4.

MISSING: Nicklas Backstrom bobblehead. This one and at least three others were stolen from the Verizon Center press box when media members were away in the locker room. No demands by the culprits have been made. Victim is approximately 0' 8," 1 lb. with long blond hair. Please contact with any information as to his whereabouts.

• Ovechdance! Ovechdance!
• Alex Ovechkin‘s 30th goal of the year came on his 11th game-winning goal and third OTGWG of the year. His other two overtime game-winners came on picturesque tallies against the Islanders on March 1 and the Senators on October 11.
• Ovechkin was on the ice for 11 chances for, had seven shots on goal and four hits. Oh, yeah… he had also had the primary assist on Arnott’s 400th career goal, a powerful point shot that Enroth had no chance on corralling, and the secondary assist on Knuble’s first period rebound goal. Despite his great offensive play, Ovi was on the ice for eight chances against, the seventh time this season he’s had such a game, explaining his minus-one on the night.
• One last bullet on Ovechkin. The enthusiasm he showed in his dance after the game-winner creates hockey fans for life. He is simply one of the most remarkable players in hockey history, combining Hall of Fame skill with a boyish enthusiasm. Everyday we watch him play, we consider ourselves lucky.
• “Protecting the lead, for most parts of this year, was a forte of ours,” said Boudreau. “But the teams that we play are in their playoff mode. And it’s a great learning experience of seeing how teams are ramping it up for the playoffs.”
• Bill McCreary officiated his final NHL game on Saturday, his 1,737th major league contest. McCreary’s started his career that spanned four decades on November 3, 1984, when the Washington Capitals hosted the New Jerseys Devils. He ref’d the most playoff games (297) and the most Stanley Cup Final games (44) in league history, along with two Winter Olympics goad metal games in 1998 and 2002.”He has probably seen it all in our game,” said Knuble.
• Speaking of McCreary, it was the first time since the 2004-05 NHL lockout that a referee tandem with him did not call a minor penalty through two periods. It was also the first time since 2008 that the Caps have played in a game with no minors called on either team in the first two frames.”I thought the refs did a great job,” Boudreau said. “It was a like a playoff hockey game, and they know what it means so they let the hacks and the slashes go while it was even”
• Jason Chimera played just 9:23 of ice time and was the ice for zero scoring chances for, one against. He was invisible out there.
• Matt Bradley had seven hits in under 11 minutes on the ice. That is all.
• Sean Collins, seeing his first NHL game in almost two season, was not too bad. Collins was on the ice for three chances for and four against in 14:07 of ice time. He also played nine (!) seconds on the penalty kill. Boudreau had this to say after the game: “I think he did really good. I think he moved the puck well. He competed. He did a really good job.”
• The Caps lost yet another D-man to injury when Tyler Sloan left in the second period after registering 10:52 of ice time. “He’s day to day,” said Boudreau, meaning it could be anything from a hangnail to a ruptured spleen.”He got his bell rung and we’ll see how it goes,” he added. It appears, however, that John Erskine will back for the next match.
• Despite giving up four goals, Boudreau prasied his rookie Czech netminder. “I thought Neuvy did a real good job of staying composed and not letting things get to him and juust battling the battle, and I thought we did a real good job of coming back and not hanging our heads and saying “oh well , let’s just wait till tomorrow,” he said. Guess we know who playoff starter is.


Joe B. Suit of the Night

• With Buffalo picking up the point tonight, they move into to sole possession of seventh place in the East, with the Caps now set to take on the New York Rangers in the playoffs as the seedings currently stand. YELP!

Games remaining: three.

Additional reporting by Neil Greenberg and Ian Oland.

“Perry, we did it! We actually score on power play!” (Photo credit: Rick Stewart)

After going 1-4 in their last five games — all against Western Conference foes — the Caps headed back to the friendly confines of the east coast on Sunday, hoping to right the ship versus Buffalo. Facing a hungry Sabres team in a nationally televised matchup, Washington was certainly up to the task.

The first period may have been scoreless but it certainly wasn’t uneventful. The Capitals managed 16 shots but Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was fantastic, making big saves throughout the frame. Washington also had four power play chances in the period, including over a minute and a half on the two man advantage. However, the Caps PP continued their struggles, failing to convert as Miller remained strong.

Mathieu Perreault would finally break Miller’s streak in the second stanza. After an odd bounce in the corner, the puck kicked out to the front of the net. Perreault took advantage, putting the Caps up 1-0. However, after Brooks Laich was called for goalie interference, the Sabres would head to the power play. At 8:20 Jason Pominville converted on the man advantage, getting the puck past a screened Semyon Varlamov to knot the score at one.

Midway through the third, former Cap Shaone Morrisonn was whistled for interference, once again putting Washington on the power play. But this time, it actually worked. Alex Ovechkin skated the puck into zone before firing a shot on Miller who made the stop. However, the biscuit went to waiting Perreault. With a little help from Marcus Johansson — whose deflection awarded him the marker — Perreault put the puck in the back of net, giving the Capitals the lead. Buffalo attempted a rally but Varlamov stayed strong. Caps beat Sabres, 2-1.

• Our first bullet begrudgingly goes to the mighty-haired one, Ryan Miller. Miller was impenetrable as he stopped 16 shots in the first period, 17 in the second, and 37 for the day. Time after time he stood tall in the net. Perhaps his biggest save of the matchup was his robbery of Nicklas Backstrom in the first period. How he stabbed Backstrom’s point-blank shot we don’t know. But it figures he would get special powers on Hockey Day in America.
• As we mentioned earlier, the Caps managed to score a power play goal today — even more on that later — but they did themselves no favors early on, squandering four power play opportunities in the first period, included 1:34 of five-on-three time.  The Capitals may have ratcheted up their shot total during the two-man advantage, but the quality of the shots were poor.  Washington passively stood around the perimeter and created little havoc in the crease. Here’s an idea: we would love to see this team utilize the slap pass more. Opponents have heavily scouted the Caps power play and seem to know where the shots are going to come from. This would help open things up and keep PK’ers off balance.  And let’s make this simple: if you can’t score on a two man advantage you generally will lose the game.  The Capitals were lucky to overcome that.
• Once again, it was a less heralded Caps player that made the biggest difference. One night after having his jersey retired by Blaine High School, Matt Hendricks got a gift from the Hockey Gods in the first period as his dump-in ricocheted off the boards right to Perreault for the game’s first goal. Hendricks also drew an interference call on Morrisonn by working hard and keeping his feet moving in the offensive-zone.  That penalty led to Washington’s game-winning goal.
• The Capitals’ fourth line of Boyd Gordon, David Steckel and Matt Bradley brought the energy today and managed to create four scoring chances at even strength, including an ill-fated breakaway for Gordon. In comparison, the Caps first line of Ovechkin, Backstrom and Mike Knuble only managed three.
• Scott Hannan was on the ice for seven scoring chances and three against — one of which was the screen on Varlamov that led to Buffalo’s only goal of the game. Hannan has been steady in Mike Green’s absence but, dude, please try not to skate in Varly’s sightline when he’s trying to make a big glove save. Then we have to hear other Caps bloggers diss our favorite goalie. And that makes us sad.
• Speaking of Semyon Varlamov, he was потрясающий [English translation: tremendous]. Varly had 28 saves, many of the spectacular variety, and managed not to lose his under-garments when Thomas Vanek came in on a breakaway. As Sergey Kocharov said afterwards, “Varly made a difficult game look easy.” We couldn’t agree more.
• At Neil’s final count, the Caps out-chanced Buffalo 22-13 and 13-11 at even strength. Overall, Washington accumulated seven power play chances.

• 

  Teamwork. (Screencapture by @Caps_Grl)

  Finally, the Capitals game-winning goal (above) came from several excellent individual plays strung together. Ovechkin came into the Buffalo zone with a huge burst of speed, cut to the middle of the ice and slung a wrist shot towards Miller. Miller’s pads didn’t corral the rebound as the puck squirted to Perreault in the far corner. With the net yawning, Perreault made the decision to shoot. Miller would have recovered in time but Johansson was there to redirect six ounces of rubber into the net. Hard work, skating, shots from bad angles and rebounds. That’s how you score on the power play. You don’t just stand around waiting for something to happen.

This was a big win for Washington. Coming off their poor performances against Western Conference, this road-trip could have easily become a disaster. Now, the Caps will salvage at least four points. They can go above .500 for the journey when they face the depleted Pittsburgh Penguins Monday.

The curse is broken. The Capitals have won when I’m on recap duty. Feel free to rip up your hate letters. Caps versus Pens tomorrow. Catch you here afterwards.

Additional reporting by Neil Greenberg and Ian Oland.