Sabres hang on to beat Capitals
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Benoit Pouliot scored 3:22 into the third period to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.
Evander Kane had two goals for the Sabres (5-8-2), who had lost three of their previous four games. Robin Lehner made 24 saves.
The game-winner was a sensational effort from Pouliot, who scored for the fifth time in seven games. Picking up the puck deep in his own end, Pouliot raced down the ice and deked by a defender inside the blue line before ripping a wrist shot past Philipp Grubauer to the glove side.
Alex Ovechkin scored for the Capitals (8-7-1), who had a three-game winning streak come to a close. Grubauer made 29 saves.
The Sabres dominated the Capitals in the first period, outshooting Washington 15-4, but it took until the second period for that to translate on the scoreboard.
Kane opened the scoring 2:39 into the second following a setup by Jack Eichel. After a faceoff in the Washington end, Eichel forced a turnover and found Kane beside the net for Kane's eighth goal of the season.
Ovechkin evened the score with 2:16 left in the second on a terrific snipe. Devante Smith-Pelly spotted Ovechkin moving in the slot with speed, and Ovechkin beat Lehner after continuing to his right.
With the goal, Ovechkin has 43 points in 43 career games against the Sabres.
Kane added an empty-net goal with 20 seconds remaining.
Lehner was solid between the pipes for Buffalo after being pulled midway through the first period of Buffalo's loss to Dallas on Saturday. In that game, Lehner allowed three goals on seven shots.
Against Washington, Lehner's best stop came with seven minutes remaining in the second period. The goaltender deftly moved from left to right to stay with Smith-Pelly and stop his scoring opportunity.
NOTES: D Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), D Matt Tennyson and LW Matt Moulson were scratched for the Sabres. Ristolainen didn't practice Monday but is considered day-to-day. ... Sabres D Zach Bogosian is also nearing a return as his status was recently changed from week-to-week to day-to-day. ... RW Brett Connolly, D Madison Bowey and C Liam O'Brien were scratched for the Capitals. Connolly (upper body) has missed six games. ... This was the first of three meetings this season. The next meeting takes place on Feb. 19 in Buffalo.