Tuch scores twice against former team, lifts Capitals past Sabres in OT
Forward wins it with 1:18 remaining, Strome has two goals, assist for Washington
By Harvey Valentine
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
WASHINGTON -- Alex Tuch scored his second goal of the game against his former team with 1:18 left in overtime, giving the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Tuch received a pass from Dylan Strome from behind the net and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with a wrist shot from the slot in his first game against the Sabres.
“‘Tuchy’ made a great move to get away from the guy, and I saw him in the slot,” Strome said. “And he’s a really good shooter and just put it in the net.”
Tuch, who is from nearby Syracuse, New York, played the past five seasons with Buffalo before being acquired by Washington on June 26 in a sign-and-trade deal that netted him an eight-year, $84 million contract ($10.5 million average annual value).
“I loved playing for the Sabres, and I think everyone knows that,” Tuch said. “And when you play against your former team -- I’ve done it a couple of times before -- you always want to score and to be able to get the game-winner was pretty special.”
Strome had two goals and an assist for the Capitals (6-4-0), who have won three of four. Jordan Kyrou and Jakob Chychrun each had two assists, and Charlie Lindgren made 18 saves.
“I thought he was the best player out there tonight,” Tuch said of Strome. “I thought he was unbelievable and it’s easy to play with a guy like that. Always got his head up, so much poise, always looking for the next play.”
Jack Quinn, Josh Doan and Noah Ostlund scored for the Sabres (4-4-3), who have lost three in a row and four of five (1-1-3), and travel to California for three games beginning Tuesday at the Sharks. Luukkonen made 30 saves.
“Yeah, we got one point today, and now we're going to Cali,” defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said. “It's going to be fun, and we just got to keep working. And I'm sure it will get better here.”
Quinn gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 6:27 of the first period when he received a pass at the left wall from Olen Zellweger, skated to the net and lifted a shot past Lindgren.
Doan extended it to 2-0 at 10:36. Ryan McLeod intercepted Chychrun’s pass behind the goal and passed to Doan, who scored on a one-timer from the right face-off dot.
“I personally did not like my start at all,” Lindgren said. “First two goals, felt like I kind of dug the team a little bit of a hole and really appreciate the team’s effort in front of me. Just kept on working, kept on fighting.”
Tuch cut it to 2-1 at 16:10 after Sabres forward Tage Thompson tried to block his centering pass and the puck deflected past Luukkonen.
“I said (to Thompson), ‘I can always find your stick,’” Tuch said of his former teammate. “That was a crazy bounce obviously, the kind of break I thought we needed to get back on the horse there and start pressuring them a little bit more.”
Strome tied it 2-2 at 2:59 of the second period, controlling a bouncing puck in front of the net and sliding a backhand shot inside the right post four seconds after a power play ended.
Strome gave Washington a 3-2 lead at 17:24 when he skated across the low slot, received a pass from Kyrou behind the goal line and snapped it in. The goal came 46 seconds after Lindgren made a left pad save to stop Zach Benson on a partial breakaway.
“Something we really have to focus about now, moving forward,” Dahlin said of Buffalo’s second period. “I feel like we start strong and then we kind of feel good about the first period. We’ve got to remember it’s 60 minutes and we have to push every single shift and it's not going to be easy.”
Ostlund tied it 3-3 at 2:20 of the third period when his shot deflected in off Capitals defenseman Matt Roy.
“I think we've been playing good in all the third periods this year, and (with) a little bit more desperation and a little bit higher emotion,” Ostlund said.
NOTES: Tuch (10 games) became the fastest Capitals player to record their first three multigoal games with the franchise, besting Alex Ovechkin (11 games in 2005-06). … Lindgren (144 games) passed Pat Riggin for the sixth-most games played by a goalie in franchise history. … Quinn has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past six games and extended his point streak to four games (four goals, three assists). … Benson extended his season-opening road assist streak to five games, establishing the longest run in Sabres history.
