Capitals Dominate Sabres, Win 6-0
The Washington Capitals have been on a tear as of late and continued their winning ways against the Buffalo Sabres. The Capitals were flying around the ice which led to six different players recording a goal. They tallied one in the first, then three in the second, and two more in the third, simply overwhelming the Sabres.
Following a slow start, the Capitals struck late in the first with a goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov. Nicklas Backstrom tallied a goal in the second, set up by a series of beautiful dangles by T.J. Oshie. Richard Panik recorded his third goal of the season and Daniel Sprong scored number six on the year. The Capitals continued to push the pedal down as Garnet Hathaway scored his fourth on the year putting them up 5-0 in the third. Then, with just under five minutes remaining, Alex Ovechkin recorded his eleventh goal on the year and number 717 of his career.
After scoring a goal in the third period, Ovechkin tied Phil Esposito for sixth-most goals all-time. Ovi now sits at 1,299 career points and is one point shy of becoming the 35th player in NHL history to reach 1,300 points.
Continuing his streak of solid performances in goal, Vitek Vanecek recorded his first career NHL shutout saving 23 shots. He became the tenth rookie goalie in franchise history to record a shutout. Vanecek now leads all rookie goaltenders with 12 wins this season. He is also tied for sixth in wins among all goaltenders.
The Capitals have been playing excellent and have won their last five and nine of their last ten games. The Caps now have 40 points on the year and are sitting at 18-6-4 going into a huge matchup with the Islanders tomorrow night. The Islanders are currently two points ahead of the Capitals, but have played one more game.
Tomorrow night’s game against the Islanders will be played at Capital One Arena at 7pm. The Capitals will be looking to tie the Islanders for first place in the Eastern Division.
