Sabres come up short against Holtby, Capitals

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Conor Sheary stabbed at a loose puck in the blue paint, part of a last-ditch effort by the Buffalo Sabres with two extra attackers in the final minute of their game against the Washington Capitals on Friday night.
Capitals goalie Braden Holtby stood strong and covered the puck as it dribbled in the crease, the moment serving as a microcosm of the bigger picture in what would end as a 2-1 Sabres loss.
Holtby made 36 saves for the Capitals on a night when the Sabres outshot the reigning Stanley Cup champions, 37-24. Johan Larsson scored the lone goal for Buffalo to spoil the shutout, temporarily tying the game at 1-1 with 10:59 remaining in regulation.

"We thought we put together a really good effort," Sheary said. "I think [Holtby] stood on his head for a lot of the game, kept them in it especially in the third. I think he was the difference tonight."

Washington capitalized on its chances, opening the scoring on shorthanded breakaway Chandler Stephenson early in the second period and netting the tying goal when Evgeni Kuznetsov forced Carter Hutton into a turnover behind the Buffalo net and fed Tom Wilson with 7:00 remaining.
"[Holtby] kind of got a hack in on me," Hutton said. "I fumbled it, he capitalized."
Sabres coach Phil Housley offered a reminder of all the good Hutton has done in net, including some key saves on Friday. His 22-save effort include one point-blank stop on Alex Ovechkin in the slot and another on Andre Burakovsky.
"He's been terrific for us," Housley said. "It's one of those things where I'm sure if he was in that position again, I'm sure he'd like to do something differently. He just lost the handle and they pounced on it. All the good things he's done, they outweigh that play."
The loss marked the second time the Sabres came one goal short in Washington in the span of a week. Larsson said he saw this performance as an improvement over the first meeting, a 4-3 shootout loss. The Sabres held the Capitals below their season average of 3.64 goals, which ranked third in the NHL.
Buffalo benefitted from a healthy defense corps, which saw Jake McCabe and Lawrence Pilut both return from injury, as well as a 4-for-4 night against Washington's sixth-ranked penalty kill.
"These guys left everything out there tonight," Housley said. "It's unfortunate. We've been on the other side of these games but give credit. Holtby played terrific. I really liked our game."

While a number of Sabres had grade-A chances that didn't materialize, Sheary stood out in particular as one whose standout performance was stifled by Holtby. He was stopped on a breakaway, had a deflection robbed from point-blank range and saw the puck poked away at the offensive blue line.
On that third play, Holtby all the way out above the circle to challenge a Rasmus Ristolainen breakaway. After blocking Ristolainen's attempt, he knocked the puck away from Sheary and out of play. Sheary was asked if he could have done anything differently.
"I mean, maybe a little bit more poise with him being all the way out at the blue line," he said. "But when you're in the moment and you see the goalie out there, you're just trying to get it to the net and hopefully something good happens."
Still, the Sabres kept pushing. They played their best hockey in the third period, outshooting the Capitals 17-8 in the process.
"I think we were just playing on our toes," Sheary said. "Sometimes when you play a team like this, you give them a lot of respect with the success they've had. I think we kind of took it to them there. We know we're a good team here, so I think that's good confidence for us moving forward."
As frustrating as two close losses in the same building can be, Sheary - who had plenty of battles with the Capitals during his tenure in Pittsburgh - put them in perspective. Outcome aside, they once again showed they can compete with the best.
"It's frustrating, but we also have to understand that's a good team over there," he said. "They took advantage of their opportunities and they scored one more than us.
"I think we have a quick turnaround here, we've got to have a fresh mindset tomorrow and work as hard as we did. Hopefully we'll come out with a better result."

Up next

The Sabres host the Anaheim Ducks for their final game ahead of the holiday break. Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night pregame show, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7.