BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored the tying goal and then had the decisive shootout goal, helping the Washington Capitals snap a two-game skid with a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.
Anthony Mantha and Nick Jensen also scored for Washington. Ilya Samsonov stopped 20 shots through regulation and allowed one goal on three shootout attempts.
Jeff Skinner scored twice and Victor Olofsson added a goal for Buffalo, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Buffalo squandered a chance to win four straight for the first time since a 10-game winning streak in November 2018.
Tokarski stopped 37 shots through overtime, including foiling John Carlson on bang-bang chances off a two-on-one break before the overtime buzzer.
After Buffalo’s Tage Thompson and Evgeny Kuznetsov traded shootout goals, Ovechkin scored on Washington’s third opportunity. He drove in from the right side and faked going forehand before going backhand to chip the puck in over Tokarski at the left post.
The teams traded leads twice before Ovechkin scored his 41st goal of the season to tie the score at 3 with 3:13 left in the second period.
Kuznetsov won a faceoff to the right of the Sabres net and drew it back to Ovechkin, who blasted a shot that deflected off the stick of Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin and sailed over Tokarski’s right shoulder. Kuznetsov’s assist extended his career-best point streak to 11 games, during which he has seven goals and seven assists.
Ovechkin scored after Skinner, with his second of the game, and Olofsson scored 2:25 apart to put Buffalo up 3-2 with 7:05 left in the second period.
Olofsson was looking to the rafters after squandering an ideal scoring opportunity 5:15 into the third period. With Samsonov out of position, Olofsson had the puck in the slot and shot wide of the open net.
WORKING OVERTIME
Buffalo, coming off a 4-3 shootout win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday, played its fourth consecutive game that went past regulation, following OT wins at Vancouver and Calgary last weekend. The game Friday marked the first time the Sabres had four consecutive games go past regulation since a 2-0-2 stretch from March 10-17, 2012.
OV-ATIONS
Sabres coach Don Granato had effusive praise for Ovechkin chasing Wayne Gretzky’s records. Granato recalled how his brother, Tony Granato, was Gretzky’s teammate with the Los Angeles Kings when the Great One scored his 803rd goal to break Gordie Howe’s record in March 1994.
“You watch Gretzky and it was 50 goals in 39 games and 80-some goals in a year and just crazy numbers. Four seasons had 200 points. And then you’ve got Ovi closing in on him, it’s pretty impressive,” said Granato of Ovechkin, whose 771 career goals rank third on the list, and 123 behind Gretzky.
SCRATCHES
Capitals: RW T.J. Oshie missed his fourth consecutive game with a lower-body injury.
Sabres: C John Hayden remains in a Vancouver hotel after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Capitals: Host New Jersey to open four-game homestand on Saturday.
Sabres: Travel to play New York Rangers on Sunday.
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