In Buffalo, Sam Reinhart scored two of his three goals in the third period to break open a 3-2 Sabres lead en route to a 5-2 win over the visiting Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon.
The win was a big two-point bonus for the Sabres who moved back to within five points of the second wild card spot.
“You don’t want to have to rally around a loss, but the position we were in and still are in, it took that effort against a team like Tampa,” Reinhart said. “It was really important for us to follow it up against another one of the best teams.”
Carter Hutton made 31 saves to the win as the Sabres improved to 29-24-8.
Alex Ovechkin and Andre Burakovsky were the Caps’ strikers.
“Even though I felt we were able to battle back from (trailing by two goals), the 4-2 goal was a bit of a kick in the face after getting close with that one early in the third,” Washington forward Lars Eller said. “Then it was just too steep a mountain for us to climb.”
The Caps dropped to 34-21-7; a win would have pushed the Caps into a first place tie with the New York Islanders.
“Everyone has a responsibility and a role on our team from our very top guy to anyone who plays on our fourth line,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. “We didn’t have enough players that played to the best of their ability tonight, and things didn’t go our way.”
Jason Pominville and Rasmus Dahlin also scored for the Sabres.
The Sabres managed to deflect each of the Caps’ efforts to get back in the game.
“We just went back to work. We didn’t let it affect us,” Sabres head coach Phil Housley said. “We know that’s a very dangerous team. I thought at times we let guys get to the open, but for the most part, we were pretty solid in our checking detail. That’s why we were able to get that go-ahead goal when we needed it and get that two-goal cushion.”
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Sabres highlights]
Braden Holtby made 33 saves in the loss.
“I think Braden, his track record speaks for itself in terms of what he’s been able to do in this league. He’s a huge part of our team’s success. I don’t think we did a great job insulating him tonight at all,” Reirden said after the game.
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