WASHINGTON -- As birthdays go, the 25th was one to remember for Philipp Grubauer.

The backup goalie got a rare start on home ice Friday and then stonewalled the Buffalo Sabres to lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-1 victory, helping them complete their longest homestand of the season with four victories in five games.

The only way the birthday could have been better? Picking up his second career shutout. Alas, the Sabres spoiled the party when center Sam Reinhart scored at 9:58 of the third period. Still, with his own cheering section in the stands, Grubauer was grateful to pick up a win that meant a little more than usual.

"I'm happy my parents got to see that," Grubauer said. "It's pretty special for me. It's probably one of my favorite moments."

Making just his fifth start of the season, Grubauer was in control for most of the game, racking up 32 saves against a Buffalo team ready to test him from all angles.

"He has been playing well. Your backup goaltender takes all the tough starts," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "It's his birthday, his parents had never seen him play, which is sort of cool, and I thought he played really well. We played well in front of him, and when things got a little hairy on the penalty kill, he came up with a couple of big stops."

After the Sabres closed the gap to 2-1 in the third period, Buffalo's comeback was halted after it was hit with a too-many-men penalty at 15:40. The Capitals took advantage. Right winger Brett Connolly put back a rebound from a wicked Alexander Ovechkin shot to give Washington a 3-1 lead.

"The penalty there killed us," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said.

The Capitals' first two goals came courtesy of fortuitous bounces, giving Buffalo netminder Anders Nilsson a hard-luck loss in his sixth start of the season.

Winnik opened the scoring when a behind-the-net pass from center Lars Eller rolled off the stick of Connolly and right to Winnik, who fired a shot past Nilsson for his third goal of the season. The Capitals are now 12-3-2 when scoring first.

"I think we're doing a good job of communicating what we are looking for from each other when we are on the ice," Winnik said of his newly constructed line. "It's really translating into some offensive shifts for us."

Washington added a goal in the second period, when a cross-ice pass from right winger Justin Williams deflected off the stick of Buffalo defenseman Josh Gorges directly to a streaking Johansson, who beat Nilsson stick-side to give the Capitals a 2-0 advantage.

"(Gorges) played it good, unfortunately, it went right back to them," Nilsson said. “I think (Johansson) missed his shot a little bit. I misread the shot. I thought it was going to go high and it went under my arm. That's a goal I would like to have back. It was a tough bounce for us."

Nilsson, who was coming off a 46-save victory against Pittsburgh on Nov. 19, finished with 29 saves. But Buffalo, which entered the game last in the NHL in scoring, continued to struggle to find the back of the net.

"It's frustrating," center Ryan O'Reilly said. "There's not much you can do. You gotta bear down a little bit more. It's frustrating. Scoring goals again is the problem. That's my job and I'm not doing it right now."

The Capitals have earned a point in 22 of their last 28 games against the Sabres, going 11-2-2 in their last 15 matchups.

NOTES: Capitals RW T.J. Oshie (upper body injury) took part in the team's morning skate Friday, but is still being classified as week to week with his injury. "I'm on a pretty good track right now," Oshie said. ... G Braden Holtby will start Saturday at Toronto in the second half of the Capitals' back-to-back. ... Sabres C Jack Eichel (ankle) practiced Thursday but did not make the trip. He will practice again on Sunday. ... Buffalo's goalies entered Friday's game with a .930 save percentage. They have not finished at that percentage since 1998-99 and last finished with a .920 or higher save percentage in 2009-10. ... D Nate Schmidt was Washington's other scratch, and D Dmitry Kulikov (lower back), D Zach Bogosian (knee sprain) and LW Cole Schneider were scratched for Buffalo.