Ovechkin, Capitals top Sabres

BUFFALO --Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 35th goal to help the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday.
Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:18 of the second period when he deflected a shot by Christian Djoos. It's the 10th time in 14 NHL seasons he's scored at least 35 goals.

WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Sabres highlights]
"I think the last game I didn't play my game," Ovechkin said. "I think it was the worst play of my career by myself. I take the blame on it. It was a good response, we got two points."
Ovechkin had three shots on goal and four hits; he had no shots on goal in a 7-1 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
"[Ovechkin] got sort of bumped into [by Rasmus Ristolainen] right off the bat and … they were having a good battle all night," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "Sometimes when you wake the bear up, you poke him a little, he goes. I thought he was skating pretty well."
Philipp Grubauer made 32 saves for the Capitals (34-18-7), who are 4-1-2 in their past seven games and moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins with two games in hand. Washington went 2-1-1 on its four-game road trip.

"I think we worry about wins and losses, for sure, but how we play matters too," Capitals defenseman John Carlson said. "I think we put a lot of good efforts together in this trip. The [loss to Chicago], everyone talks about it and all that, but we played a lot of good minutes of hockey on this trip."
Kyle Okposo and Evander Kane scored, and Chad Johnson made 27 saves for the Sabres (17-32-11), who have lost three straight games (0-2-1).

"The result definitely we don't like," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "We want to win at home here, but against a really good hockey team, I can't fault our guys for the effort."
Carlson gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead at 13:33 of the second period when his wraparound shot trickled over the goal line for his 11th goal.
It initially was ruled no goal on the ice after Okposo kicked the puck away from the goal line, but video review showed the puck completely crossed the line.
"It really started with puck control and getting the puck to the net," Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said. "I don't know where John came from or how he got behind the net, but it worked out."
Okposo made it 2-1 at 12:42 of the third period when a shot by Scott Wilson deflected off of him for his 10th goal.
"I was just trying to battle to get to the net," Okposo said. "[Evan Rodrigues] made a great play and it hit me in the back of the leg. [I'll] take it, but I thought we did a lot of that in the third period. We just got pucks and bodies to the net. We do need more of that."
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored an empty-net goal at 19:34 of the third period to make it 3-1.
Kane scored his 19th goal at 19:56 to make it 3-2.

Goal of the game

Ovechkin's goal at 1:18 of the second period.

Save of the game

Grubauer stopping Zemgus Girgensons at 7:08 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Carlson's goal at 13:33 of the second period.

They said it

"It's the NHL and these teams, they've got really skilled players and they shorten the bench and they press you as hard as they can. That's just what happens in third periods and the more we can learn and make better plays getting out like we did in the last 10 we'll be better off." -- Capitals defenseman John Carlson
"The speed on rushes is hard. I thought we controlled it for the most part, but a team like that, they're going to generate opportunities, so I knew I was going to have to be strong. I thought our team played well defensively, too. At the end of the day, they were the better team for the majority of the game, and that's sort of why they won." -- Sabres goalie Chad Johnson

Need to know

The Capitals acquired defenseman Michal Kempny from the Chicago Blackhawks for a conditional third-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. ... Goalie Linus Ullmark was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Monday to replace Robin Lehner, who is day to day with a lower-body injury. Ullmark was re-assigned after the game. ... Ovechkin scored his 593rd NHL goal and is seven from becoming the 20th player in League history with 600.

What's next

Capitals:Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SNP, TVAS, NBCSWA, SUN, NHL.TV)
Sabres:At the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, MSG-B, NHL.TV)