Capitals 2, Sabres 5
Scoresheet - Wash Post
Two things hurt the Capitals this season, their penalty kill and injuries. Those two issues seemed predominant plagues in this game. The Sabres took advantage of their extra man opportunities and the Caps missed the speedy Matt Pettinger.
Donald Brashear had himself quite a night with a goal and a fight, a knock out with Andrew Peters. The Caps seem to depend on him more for scoring than enforcing. If a team can put their minds to it, it has been easy to shutdown both Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin who were both held pointless. Brian Potheir scored the Caps other goal.
Dainius Zubrus didn't waste much time to stick it to his old team, getting a pair of assists. While it was hard to see Jiri Novotny anywhere on the ice (who the Capitals traded the former for the later). Daniel Briere also took advantage of an inexperienced team scoring two including a cute wrap around that slipped past Olie Kolzig (who looked a little slow to recover on more than one occasion).
The Caps seem to turn over the puck an inordinate amount of times, possession is key against a team like Buffalo. Bad passes, blind passes, and just being weak with the puck all lead to the demise of the Capitals. Most of that you can tack to in experience (the phrase of the year), but it wasn't just the young players turning it over.
Capitals have to find their offense again against Carolina (another reoccurring phrase on the season for the Capitals.) With the Hurricanes stuck in a tie for eighth place, the Caps must be at their best, because Carolina will be at theirs.
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