Ovechkin's Overtime Goal Puts Caps in First Place

The Buffalo Sabres came into Washington, D.C. Saturday night without goaltender Ryan Miller, making it the second straight game the Capitals played a team without one of their leaders. It was also their second straight game that they won in overtime as they defeated the Sabres by a score of 5-4.

“Games like this happen. The best defensive teams in the league, every now and then, will have a game where they stop doing it right," said Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau. "Three of the goals we put in our own net. I thought we did a real good job of coming back."

The Capitals jumped out to an early lead Saturday night when Mike Knuble scored 37 seconds into the game. John Carlson snuck up for a two-on-one with Knuble and Jhonas Enroth was unable to hold onto Carlson's initial shot.

Just four minutes later, Nicklas Backstrom beat Enroth with a shot that rang off the post and into Enroth's back. Before he could cover the puck, Alexander Semin tapped it home for his 28th goal of the season.

“Well, we weren’t playing our game," said Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff after the game. "It started in our defensemen getting caught cheating offensively. Then after that it was forwards turning pucks over – not shooting pucks. We thought it was going to be a little easier game – we’re passing it around the perimeter. Once we got by that segment of hockey, we were good again.”

Ruff immediately called a timeout following Semin's goal and the Sabres responded immediately. Thomas Vanek scored the 200th goal of his career when he redirected Jason Pominville's shot past Michal Neuvirth.

Midway through the period, the game was tied up after Neuvirth was late to react on a shot by Drew Stafford which went five-hole on the Capitals' netminder.

The two teams cooled down in the second period, although the Capitals had some strong flurries in the frame. Enroth settled into the net and made some big stops, the best of which was a glove save on Jason Arnott.

Buffalo broke the tie 12 minutes into the third period when the Capitals were caught on a bad line change. Nathan Gerbe found Paul Gaustad streaking behind the Washington defense. Gaustad deked and scored for his 11th of the season.

Knuble tied it up minutes later when he deflected a shot by Brooks Laich on the power play.

“You can say what you want about the quality of the game at times, but it was fun. It was a fun one for the players and both teams couldn’t hold each other back," said Knuble after the game.

The game shifted again a few minutes later. The Capitals were down a man after Scott Hannan was whistled for holding, but found themselves with a potential odd man rush. Defenseman Carlson jumped up into the play, but Buffalo quickly got the puck back for their own rush. Carlson raced back to try and stop the two-on-one from developing, but in the process kicked the puck and collided with goaltender Neuvirth, who could only watch as it slid past him.

Arnott came up big for the Capitals again as time was winding down. While on a power play and with the goalie pulled, Alex Ovechkin fired a wrist shot at Enroth. He stopped it, but the rebound came out to Arnott who flipped it to his backhand and netted it for his 400th career goal.

“Any time we can score a power-play goal, it’s a beautiful thing," said Boudreau. "We had gone a long time without scoring when we pulled the goalie and I think we’ve done it twice now in the last couple of weeks. It shows a great drive.”

In overtime, it was the captain who sent the fans home happy. Ovechkin made a deke around a defender to create space and sent a pass cross-ice. The puck never arrived as it deflected off a Buffalo player and into the net for Ovechkin's 30th goal of the season and NHL leading 11th game winning goal.

“He was trying to pass it, not shoot it. And he hit a stick and it changed direction, so you have no idea where the puck is and it was in the net," said Buffalo defenseman Andrej Sekera after the game.

Ovechkin capped it off by dancing at center ice while celebrating with his teammates.

The win puts the Capitals in first place in the Eastern Conference with three games left to play. They can also clinch the Southeast if they win another game or Tampa Bay loses one.

Additional Notes

- The game was veteran referee Bill McCreary's final game. He chose to end his career in Washington because it was the same place he started it. His first game was in 1984 at the old Capital Centre. The first penalty he called was on current Capitals broadcaster Craig Laughlin. He was honored before the game and presented with a silver puck from Capitals GM George McPhee.

- John Carlson had two assists, which gives him 37 points on the season to tie him with Greg Theberge and Robert Picard for the most points by a rookie defenseman in franchise history.

- The Capitals have gone to overtime 24 times this season, tying a franchise record. They had lost eight in a row that went past regulation earlier in the season, but have now won seven of their last eight.