Capitals 5 - 4 Sabres
Final - OT
  for this game

Caps edge Sabres in OT

Jan 29, 2014 - 4:50 AM Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Green scored the winner one minute into overtime as the Washington Capitals took a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

Martin Erat skated down the left wing and left a drop pass for Alex Ovechkin, who faked a shot before firing a perfect pass to the right side where Green had an easy slam for the win.

Ovechkin finished the game with two goals and two assists, Green had two goals and an assist, while Troy Brouwer added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won two straight after dropping seven in a row. Braden Holtby stopped 23 shots.

"The good news is we won the game and did a lot of good things," said Washington head coach Adam Oates. "A couple of mistakes and breakdowns. I don't want to see it's all our fault because they made some good plays, but some things we need to straighten out."

Cody Hodgson scored twice, with Christian Ehrhoff and Philip Varone each scoring for the Sabres, who have lost seven of eight. Jhonas Enroth made 30 saves in the loss.

Ovechkin scored on the power play just 3:49 into the game with a big slap shot from the slot off a right circle faceoff win, and made it 2-0 53 seconds later as he got a piece of a Green shot for his NHL-leading 38th goal of the season.

Ehrhoff was able to push the puck in from in front after a rush play with 6:15 to go in the first to get Buffalo on the board.

The Sabres then tied the game on the power play as Hodgson took a pass at the left side of the net and wristed it in at 1:41 of the second.

Green's first of the game gave the Capitals the lead back halfway through the second period on his wraparound from the left side, but Varone's first NHL goal came just over a minute later as he tapped in a short pass from the left side.

"I mean, it's every kid's dream," said Varone. "I've thought about it a lot ever since I was called up. It took me 27 games to get my first pro goal in the AHL, so this one came a little bit sooner. It's a good weight off the shoulders."

The Caps, though, took the lead back at 16:57 of the second on the power play as Erat sent a crisp pass from the low right side to the slot where Brouwer one-timed it home.

Shortly after the ref's arm went up for a penalty call against Washington, Hodgson kept skating and from the right circle he was able to lift a backhander high into the net to tie the game at 6:48 of the third period.

Game Notes

Washington plays in Columbus on Thursday ... Buffalo plays in Phoenix on Thursday ... The Sabres had won the previous two games this season against the Capitals ... Washington went 2-for-3 on the power play, while Buffalo was 1- for-2.






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