They created plenty of chances and could not finish, save for a highlight-reel goal from their star forward. The power-play faltered. There were too many turnovers in bad spots.
In other words, the Capitals looked too much like the pre-Bruce Boudreau version of themselves at Verizon Center on Monday night. And the result was the first loss under Boudreau, their new head coach, 3-1 to the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo forward Jochen Hecht scored two goals and assisted on another and goalie Ryan Miller steadily turned aside the Caps’ best scoring chances, finishing with 30 saves and his fourth victory in a row.
Washington had begun building some momentum after the firing of former coach Glen Hanlon on Thanksgiving Day. But unlike wins over the weekend against Philadelphia and Carolina, where they scored first each time, the Caps were playing from behind most of the night against the Sabres.
Hecht opened the scoring 10 minutes, 55 seconds into the first period, banking a shot off the skate of Caps defenseman John Erskine.
Star forward Alex Ovechkin drew gasps from the crowd with a phenomenal goal that tied the game in the first minute of the second period. It was Ovechkin’s 17th tally of the season. But Hecht answered him at 8:07 of the second period with his eighth goal of the year and second of the night. He then assisted on a breakaway goal by teammate Jason Pominville later in the second to finish the scoring.
Special teams proved to be the Caps undoing after converting four of their last seven chances. Instead, they went 0-for-4 against the Sabres and were thwarted several times by Miller late in the third period as they tried to rally. The Caps did, however, hold their own on the penalty kill. Buffalo was 0-for-4 on the power play and the Caps took just one penalty in the second and third periods combined.
Cold as Ice
» The Capitals have now scored two or fewer goals in a game 15 games this season.
» At least star F Alex Ovechkin was worth the price of admission. He had the sensational goal in the second period, several noteworthy hits and took a game-high nine shots.
» Goaltender Olie Kolzig kept the Caps close in the third period with several fine saves. He finished the night with 28 saves on 31 Buffalo shots.
