POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 4, Sabres 3 (SO)

Shootout City - In late October, the Caps split a pair of shootout decisions, losing to Florida at home on Oct. 19 and winning in Calgary on Oct. 27. They blissfully went through the next 23 games and 47 days without any shootout activity, until this weekend.

Each of Washington's two weekend games resulted in a shootout ending, with the Caps prevailing in both. After Jakub Vrana scored the deciding shootout goal and Braden Holtby stopped five of six shootout attempts in Friday night's 6-5 win over Carolina, the Caps came home and edged Buffalo 4-3 in s shootout on Saturday night. Alex Ovechkin provided the difference-maker in the skills competition while Pheonix Copley permitted one goal on four shots after 65 minutes of hockey failed to identify a winner.
The two shootout wins extended Washington's winning streak to five, and its winning streak in the shootout to three. Since dropping that shootout to Florida in October, the Caps' goaltenders have spent time working with goalie coach Scott Murray on shootouts, to good effect.

"This weekend was a prime example of it," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "Two hard-fought wins - to be able to scratch and claw our way out of a four-point weekend. So that's huge for our team, and then shootout points are important.
"Speaking on Pheonix's behalf, from where he has come from in his very first shootout to where he is now, it's a much different goaltender in there. He puts his time and his work in and they have a good plan on how they can improve and get better between him and Scott, and Braden as well. That's an area where he has improved over the last couple of years, for sure."
Copley relieved Holtby early in the Oct. 19 game against Florida, and he found himself in his first NHL shootout that night after the Caps rallied from three goals down to force overtime, then the shootout.
"That one then didn't really go like we wanted," recounts Copley. "So it was something that me and Scotty worked on in practice, and we've continued to focus on that area. Thankfully, it worked out tonight."
The Caps last endured the occurrence of shootouts in both ends of back-to-back games nearly a year ago, right after the 2017 holiday break. Washington lost a 1-0 shootout decision to the Rangers in New York on Dec. 27, 2017 and prevailed over the Boston Bruins by a 4-3 count in the skills competition at home a night later.
That Bruins shootout came in the 39th game of the 2017-18 season, and Washington got through the final 43 games of the season without dealing with any more shootout situations; they had only four of them all season, a franchise record low for a full 82-game slate. The Caps dealt with only three shootouts in 2012-13 when a lockout shortened the season to just 48 games.
Streaking -Although he did not become the first player in NHL history to refcord hat tricks in three straight games on Saturday, Alex Ovechkin scored the game-tying goal for Washington against the Sabres, netting his 29th of the season late in the second period. The goal extended his scoring streak to 14 straight games (17-6-23) a personal best for the Caps' captain.
Ovechkin certainly had some looks and some opportunities in Saturday's game; he finished the night with eight shots on net and 11 shot attempts to lead all skaters on both sides in both categories for the night. Linemates Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie were looking for Ovechkin all night, as were his power play cohorts. To their credit, the Sabres bent but did not break in "limiting" the Caps' captain to a single goal.
He has now scored a goal in six straight games, his longest streak since a seven-game spree during his rookie season of 2005-06.

"I think today Backy and Osh do a great job to try to find me when they get into the [offensive] zone," says Ovechkin. "I had pretty good chances, but today was obviously not my day. But again, you can't score every night."
Coinciding with Ovechkin's 14-game scoring streak, the Caps have now scored three or more goals in 14 straight games, their longest such streak since a 23-game run in the middle of the 2009-10 season.
Killing With Kindness - Washington's penalty killing outfit continued to struggle, yielding two power-play goals and coming within a single second of surrendering a third for what would have been the second time in as many nights.
As remarkable as it was for Washington to win consecutive games despite allowing - for all intents and purposes - three power-play goals in each game, the Caps know they've got to be better when they're down a man. They've dipped to 27th in the league on the season, their kill rate down to 75.2 percent.
"I think a lot of the same things are happening," says Washington winger Devante Smith-Pelly. "The first goal, we killed it all the way. Then a shot, rebound for a tap-in. I can't remember the other goals, but I know they weren't exactly tic-tac-toes, so that's just kind of what happens. We've just got to stay the course and continue to get better."
The last time the Caps finished the season with a worse penalty killing percentage was 1980-81, when they ended up at 73.9 percent.
"I just thought we were moving it well," says Sabres captain Jack Eichel of the Sabres' power play, which delivered multiple goals for the second time in the last three games. "I thought we were taking what they were giving us. We obviously were able to come up with a couple of loose pucks there and regain possession, and I thought everyone chipped in."
Eight Straight - Evgeny Kuznetsov set up Jakub Vrana's 10th goal of the season in the first period, marking the eighth straight game in which Kuznetsov has recorded a helper. He is now one game shy of matching the franchise record for most consecutive games with an assist.
Bengt Gustafsson established the mark with a nine-game run in 1985-86, and Dave Christian matched it in 1986-87.

Century City -Smith-Pelly set up Connolly's seventh goal of the season - and the caps' first of the game - early in the first period, recording his 100th career point in the process. Smith-Pelly now has 44 goals and 56 assists in 373 career NHL contests.
Down On The Farm - The AHL Hershey Bears were on the road on Saturday night, facing the P-Bruins in Providence. After taking an 2-1 lead early in the second, the Bears lost 6-2.
Ryan Sproul scored his first goal as a member of the Bears with help from Jayson Megna and Juuso Ikonen, tying the game at 1-1 on a Hershey power play at 2:07 of the second.
Just over five minutes later, Mike Sgarbossa netted his 12th of the season with help from Nathan Walker and Aaron Ness to lift the Bears into the lead, but that was as good as it would get for Hershey on this night.
Providence rallied for five unanswered goals, sending the Bears on their way to Springfield - where they'll face the Thunderbirds on Sunday afternoon - empty-handed.
Ilya Samsonov stopped 18 of 23 shots he faced in the Hershey nets in falling to 4-9-0 on the season.
Down a level, the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays won a 6-2 decision over the visiting Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Saturday night at North Charleston Coliseum.
Cameron Askew had two goals and three points and Joey Leach had a goal and four points to pace the Stingrays' attack. Gordon Defiel made 33 saves to earn the win for South Carolina.
By The Numbers -John Carlson led the Caps with 29:11 in ice time … Tom Wilson led Washington with eight hits … Michal Kempny led the Caps with three blocked shots … Backstrom won 11 of 16 draws (69 percent) and Kuznetsov won nine of 15 (60 percent).