After defeating the Buffalo Sabres 6-1 at home at the Verizon Center on March 7th, the Washington Capitals saw themselves in a surprisingly tough game at the Sabres home arena in Buffalo, New York last night. Washington was very much in need of two points to keep distance between them and the Boston Bruins, the Ottawa Senators and the Florida Panthers in the race for the final two Eastern Conference wild card spots.
In order to acquire said points, the Caps looked to twenty-two year old center Evgeny Kuznetsov to lead the way.
With the game tied at two late in the contest, Kuznetsov netted a nifty wrist shot past Sabres’ goaltender Anders Lindback to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead, just 5:55 into the final period of play.
Buffalo would later tie the game and send it to overtime where the score remained tied.
Already with a goal and eight shots on goal on the night, Capitals’ head coach Barry Trotz sent Kuznetsov over the boards to shoot first for his team in the shootout. He did not disappoint with a goal after a very patient path towards the net.
From there, Washington goaltender Braden Holtby shut the door in the shootout and the Capitals increased their season point total to 84.
The win was the Capitals’ second in as many nights after defeating the Bruins 2-0 at the Verizon Center.
Holtby finished the game with 30 saves and recorded his career high 34th win on the season.
Newest Washington addition, left wing Curtis Glencross, continues to impress, adding a goal in the first period. The eighth-year player now has four goals in seven games since being acquired by the Caps the day before the NHL Trade Deadline.
After last night’s win, the Capitals playoff chances stand at 93.1%.