National Hockey League
Washington 4, Buffalo 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 14, 2024
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Referees: Mitch Dunning, T.J. Luxmore
Linesmen: Kilian McNamara, Derek Nansen
Attendance: 18573

Dylan Strome scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 win against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

Tom Wilson scored twice and John Carlson had three assists for the Capitals, who have won four straight games and are 8-0-1 in their past nine. Logan Thompson made 19 saves.

Jason Zucker and Jiri Kulich scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves for the Sabres, who have lost nine games in a row (0-6-3).

Zucker gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 1:36 of the first period. Jordan Greenway's deflection of Ryan McLeod's shot from along the right wall went off Zucker's skate in front of the net and trickled under Thompson's right pad.

Wilson tied the game at 1-1 on the power play at 17:09 of the first. Washington controlled the puck off a faceoff and moved it around before Carlson smacked a shot-pass from the left circle that Wilson redirected from the slot over Luukkonen's left shoulder.

Wilson's second power-play tally put the hosts ahead at 5:11 of the second. Luukkonen made a pad save on Jakob Chychrun's shot from the high slot, but the rebound popped out in front of the net, where Wilson quickly jumped on it to sweep it past the goaltender's left skate for a 2-1 advantage.

However, the visitors started to pick up their game and capitalized when Kulich tied the contest 2-2 at 7:24.

Bowen Byram one-timed a feed from Tage Thompson from the middle of the blue line, and Kulich was in front to deflect it into the net.

Strome made it 3-2 Capitals at 11:05 of the third period when he redirected Carlson's pass in the slot glove side on Luukkonen for his 10th goal of the season.

Chychrun scored an empty-net goal from his own zone for the 4-2 final.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Buffalo   Washington
Jiri Kulich 1 Points John Carlson 3
Jiri Kulich 1 Goals Tom Wilson 2
Bowen Byram 1 Assists John Carlson 3
N/A Power Play Goals Tom Wilson 2
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen .900 Save Percentage Logan Thompson .905
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 27 Saves Logan Thompson 19
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Buffalo 21 2 0-2 1-3 11 31
Washington 31 4 2-3 2-2 9 26
Upcoming Games
  • Washington will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Capitals have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .875 after a loss.
  • Buffalo will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Sabres have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .278 after a loss.