Capitals 6, Sabres 1: Curtis Glencross collected a goal and two assists while captain Alex Ovechkin scored for the league-leading 44th time as host Washington breezed past Buffalo.

Ovechkin joined Jay Beagle with a goal and an assist while Brooks Laich, Joel Ward and Marcus Johansson also tallied for the Capitals, who skated to their third win in four games. Braden Holtby finished with 16 saves while defenseman Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom each notched two assists, with the latter raising his career total to 418 - tying Michal Pivonka for the franchise lead.

Johan Larsson scored early in the first period for the reeling Sabres, who have dropped four in a row and 25 of their last 30 (5-23-2). Anders Lindback denied Ovechkin on a penalty shot late in the second period and made 20 saves in relief of Matt Hackett, who yielded four goals on 23 shots.

After sitting out Thursday's 2-1 loss to Minnesota with a lower-body injury, Ovechkin didn't miss a beat as he extended his goal-scoring streak to three games with his league-best 20th power-play tally. The three-time Hart Trophy winner's wrist shot from the left faceoff circle beat Hackett at 9:31 of the second period to give Washington a 3-1 advantage and Laich scored from the slot over four minutes later.

The teams tallied in similar fashion during the first period, with Marcus Foligno carrying the puck around the net to set up Larsson in front at 2:35 to open the scoring. Green did the same before feeding Glencross less than three minutes later and Beagle scored from in front at 5:27 of the second to give Washington a 2-1 lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Backstrom, who has 51 assists, surpassed 50 for the fifth time in eight seasons. ... Hackett was planning on wearing a combination Bills/Sabres mask but was unable to do so because it didn't fit properly. The mask featured Buffalo sports legends Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Gilbert Perreault and Dominik Hasek. ... Sabres D Andrej Meszaros was injured while blocking a shot in the first period and did not return.