Playoff-bound Sabres look to recapture defensive game

WASHINGTON – The Buffalo Sabres had mixed emotions Saturday night after losing 6-2 to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.

On the one hand, Buffalo had just snapped its 14-year playoff drought, officially clinching a berth when Detroit lost a few hours prior. Four months ago, the team sat in last place; in two weeks, it’ll begin competing for the Stanley Cup.

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“Obviously unbelievable,” said captain Rasmus Dahlin. “I’m happy for the city. I’m happy for all the guys that have been grinding here for years: the equipment managers, the trainers, my teammates. Most of [all], the people in the city. Wow, it’s gonna be special, that’s for sure.”

Added Alex Tuch: “Really proud of the group. It’s been a long time coming – it’s my fifth year here – and I was a pretty happy guy this afternoon.”

On the other hand, the Sabres have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since early December, and a 2-3-2 skid has dropped them to third place in the Atlantic Division. Saturday’s was their most lopsided defeat in months.

“It’s not good enough to just get in; there’s other teams that are doing that every year,” Tage Thompson said. “… We want to do something special, and if we’re playing like that, we’re not going to.”

After the great pregame news off the ice, things started horribly on it. Failed clears, missed coverages and some poorly placed rebounds allowed the Capitals to take a 3-0 lead just six minutes in. As a wake-up call, coach Lindy Ruff pulled starting goalie Alex Lyon for Colten Ellis, who hadn’t seen game action since Feb. 3.

The change in net seemed to work, at first. Dahlin scored his 18th goal just 38 seconds later to stop the bleeding, and the Sabres continued pressuring in the Washington zone. Beck Malenstyn scored on a rebound to make it 3-2.

But the deficit grew to two goals again early in the second. The Sabres couldn’t cash in on an odd-man rush during 4-on-4 play, then Washington’s Aliaksei Protas took it the other way and scored.

“You try to force stuff when you’re trying to come back in games,” Dahlin said. “It’s never a good thing to be down three that early. I think everything starts there. We can’t let that happen.”

Buffalo finished the night with 39 shots on goal but couldn’t get another one past Logan Thompson. Washington, meanwhile, added a couple insurance tallies in the third and beat Ellis three times on 23 shots.

“We left both our goalies hanging out to dry today,” Tuch said. “They didn’t deserve that. They’ve been battling for us all year.”

While the offense has cooled off with just eight 5-on-5 goals in the last six games, the Sabres understand their issues right now start in their own end. Defense was a strength of the team for months, but without an 18-man commitment in the defensive zone – Saturday’s performance was “putrid,” Thompson said – games can spiral out of reach.

“We’ve taken a lot of pride; our defensive play has been a big reason why we’ve got to where we got,” Ruff said. “We can’t take that for granted.”

“When we were successful, it was a grind,” agreed Dahlin. “It was unbelievable how hard we worked and how many shots we were blocking. We sacrificed our bodies. We’ve got to get back to that.”

Here’s more from the loss.

Tough night for PP

Buffalo had 36 seconds of 5-on-3 power play when trailing 4-2 but couldn’t capitalize. The man advantage went 0-for-5 in the game and also allowed a shorthanded goal in the third period.

“The power play there was an opportunity to maybe claw our way back into the game a little bit,” Thompson said. “I just thought that we were frustrated, and when you get frustrated, you don’t make the right plays, and you start to force things.”

Turning the page

The schedule only gets harder, now, with the rival Tampa Bay Lightning coming to Buffalo on Monday. If it’s half as entertaining as their last matchup a month ago, KeyBank Center will be in for another show.

A packed home crowd with the division title still up for grabs, the Sabres hope, could be the boost that gets them back on track.

“There was a lot of intensity last time, and maybe it’s exactly what we need right now,” Ruff said.

Up next

Monday’s puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m., with MSG’s pregame coverage starting at 6:30.

Get your tickets today and welcome the playoff-bound Sabres back home.