In Buffalo, the Sabres put a dent in the Washington Capitals’ push for a playoff spot on Thursday night. The Sabres doubled up the Caps, 4-2, with the game ending a brawl across the ice sheet at the close. 
Frustration has bubbled up on the Capitals side with the loss of a wold card spot on Thursday.
“Anytime you lose at this time of the year, it’s an opportunity missed,” the Capitals’ Connor McMichael said. “And this one doesn’t feel good, for sure, but there’s nothing we can do now. It’s on to the next one and we got to keep winning.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-5, in extra time to replace the Caps in the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves in the win.
The Sabres moved to 38-37-5.
“I thought we came in with a game plan,” Buffalo’s Alex Tuch said. “I think we probably could’ve gotten a few more pucks to the net, I think we were a little low on shots there, but we were able to score when it counted.”
The Sabres took a 1-0 lead with 60 seconds left in the opening stanza on a strike by Zach Benson. His 10th goal of the campaign came off a tip in of a shot from Jeff Skinner.
“A guy gets into double digits, and you factor in his age and in no way, shape, or form did we think he would be on our roster before training camp started when we drafted him last June,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “You just don’t think a kid that age can do it. But he has been impressive from Day One of training camp, and that was a big goal tonight, a real big goal in an area that’s a gritty, tough area, the front of the net. … He’s proven that he’s belonged here this year.”
Tuch scored at 12:37 of the middle frame to push the led to 2-0 for Buffalo, scoring off a wrist shot.
The Capitals dropped to 37-31-11 off their seventh loss in eight matches.
“This has been the way our team has gone all year,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “And if we get a couple goals there, and now we’ll protect our lead. If we don’t and we trail, now it becomes a challenge. And that’s what you saw tonight.
“And there was a few, like you saw some of the young mistakes from our group in this situation where some nerves come in. … This time of year, that just can’t happen. You have to be able to execute a simple chip out off the wall. … But for the most part, I thought there was enough positivity to win the game. We just weren’t able to finish and were trailing in that game.”
McMichael trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 14:36 of the second, scoring off a deflection.
Buffalo extended the lead to 3-1 on a marker form Jack Quinn midway through the third.
Buffalo stretched the advantage to 4-1 when Dylan Cozens hit an empty net at 17:43 for a 4-1 lead.
Washington scored with a minute left on the game clock with a goal by Tom Wilson.
Charlie Lindgren made 13 saves in the loss.
“It’s been a really fun year. It’s been a really good year,” Lindgren said. “But to me, if we come up short, it doesn’t mean as much. So, three games left, go back on home ice here our next game. I liked our resolve. I like that we didn’t give up tonight, scoring the late one and then fisticuffs there at the end. But, yeah, let’s go home and get back to work.”
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