Close contest with Capitals ends Sabres’ 8-game winning streak

The Buffalo Sabres had their eight-game winning streak snapped with a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday at KeyBank Center.

A 1-1 tie lasted for nearly 40 minutes before Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored the game winner with 1:33 left in regulation.

Buffalo had scored two or more goals in 18 straight games entering the night, but it ran into an obstacle in Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who made 29 saves. Despite registering 30 shots on goal, the Sabres felt that one-and-done opportunities and the lack of bodies near the crease made things a bit too easy on Lindgren.

“I still think we could’ve done a better job – we talked in between both periods – of getting somebody around the net front,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “There wasn’t a lot of opportunities there where we had somebody standing right on top of him.”

Their one goal came 6:02 into the game from Sam Carrick – his second in four games since being acquired from the Rangers. Beck Malenstyn retrieved the puck from Carrick down low, then fed his linemate a no-look, backhand pass for the backdoor tap-in.

The new-look fourth line of Carrick, Malenstyn and Tanner Pearson (making his Sabres debut) was a bright spot, especially early. During their 5-on-5 ice time, they led 7-2 in shots and 4-0 in high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

Washington, after being outshot 15-3 in a fairly one-sided first period, tied the game early in the second as Ryan Leonard beat Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on an odd-man rush. The play resulted from an offensive-zone turnover by Buffalo.

“I think they just played the long game. They wanted us to make the mistakes,” said Luukkonen, who made 20 saves.

"They played a real smart game," agreed Ruff. "Realizing in the first period we were all over them, they stacked it up pretty good at the line."

That defensive posture allowed for very little rush offense, but the Sabres have ridden fast-paced hockey to the top of the Atlantic Division over the last three months; they felt they should’ve stuck to that strength rather than let the Capitals dictate the pace of the game.

“I think our identity is playing fast, going north with the puck,” said Tage Thompson, whose 15 shot attempts included five straight one-timers on an early power play. “I think in the neutral zone, when we had possession of it, we’d take it back a little too much and let them get into their set in the neutral zone. That just kind of slowed everyone up.”

Clean hockey and full-team efforts have become the standard in Buffalo during this run, and Thursday might’ve been a bit of an off night in that regard.

“I felt we had like four or five guys that weren’t really going that well,” Ruff said. “It was one of those games that I felt a couple of our guys were flat, our passes weren’t quite on, we were missing some shots up top, we were missing lanes. We could’ve turned some of the opportunities into better opportunities, but we didn’t.”

Ultimately, the Sabres left the 23-goal scorer Chychrun alone at the right dot, and he snapped in the decisive goal.

Having not lost consecutive games in regulation since early December, Buffalo is confident it’ll bounce back and be ready to face Toronto on Saturday.

“We’ve just got to regroup as a team here,” Thompson said. “The schedule’s so dense right now that we play every other day basically. So, really no time to hang your head on this one. Just keep moving forward.”

Here’s more from the loss.

Tuch sidelined

Alex Tuch sustained a minor lower-body injury late in Tuesday’s win versus San Jose. He tested it during Thursday’s morning skate but quickly told Ruff he’d be unavailable versus Washington.

“He’s feeling OK,” Ruff said. “Probably if it’s a playoff type of scenario, he’s a player, but he’s dealing with something that, why should we make it worse when a couple days could probably make it that much better?”

Tuch’s absence opened the door for Pearson’s team debut after he was acquired from Winnipeg last week. The 13-year veteran skated 8:58 with three shots on goal.

Schenn debuts, too

Defenseman Luke Schenn saw his first game action since the trade deadline, too, playing on the third pair with fellow former Jet and deadline pickup Logan Stanley. Schenn delivered two hits and blocked a shot in 14:31 of ice time, including 2:01 shorthanded.

• Read: Schenn, Pearson bring wealth of experience to Buffalo

Carrick at the dot

The Sabres traded for Carrick with his faceoff skills in mind, and the early returns are positive. Carrick won six of 10 draws against Washington and is 59 percent (23-of-39) in four games with his new team.

Postgame sound

Up next

The homestand wraps up Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Toronto Maple Leafs. MSG’s pregame coverage starts at 6:30.

Tickets are still available – get yours today.