NHL Recap March 15, 2023: Washington, D.C. vs. Sabers for Ovi’s comeback

The Washington Capitals came from a two-goal deficit to cruise to victory by defeating the Buffalo Sabers 5-4 in a shootout on Wednesday.

Both teams entered tonight’s game with 71 points, but the Caps managed to outpace their rivals in the standings despite the latter having two games in hand. Washington still trails by five points in the final game, held by the New York Islanders, who defeated the Ducks later in the day.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 37th goal of the season on his return and added an assist after missing yesterday’s game against Rangers with a lower body injury.

Owe first cut the lead to 4-3 midway through the third period, then Tom Wilson equalized 68 seconds from time as the coach pulled his goalkeeper in favor of an extra striker. Scoring in regulation time, Evgeny Kuznetsov and TJ O’Shea red-lighted again in the shootout, while goaltender Charlie Lindgren held the forts in front of the cage against Alex Tosh and Taj Thompson.

Lindgren finished the game with 23 saves in the win, to Yoko-Pekka-Lukonen’s 35.

The Sabers took a 2-0 lead after nine minutes thanks to Ilya Lyubushkin and JJ Petrka. Tyson Jost and Zymgus Jergenson were the other leading scorers in the loss, while Peyton Krebs had two assists.

The islanders bounce back quickly

The New York Islanders rebounded with a 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks after losing their first of three road games yesterday to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Islands have won both matches between the two sides this season, after recording their first win of the season with a 7-1 score on 15 October.

Pierre Engvall scored for the third straight game and added an assist. For his part, Kyle Palmieri scored the first goal for his team and ended up with four points. It was the first for him in 724 NHL games. The forward also began his career with the Ducks, which selected him in the first round of the 2009 draft.

The Ducks took a 2-1 lead late in the first period, but Hudson Vashing tied the game in the second period, with Brock Nelson’s first two goals setting up the winner. He reached the 30-goal barrier this season for the second time in his career, after scoring 37 goals last year. Zac Barris completed the mark.

Kevin Shattenkirk also scored twice in a lost cause, as Max Jones broke the ice just 25 seconds into the game by beating Ilya Sorokin on the side of the gauntlet when he was single-handed into the slot.

Sorokin eventually stopped 20 of the 23 shots aimed at him, while John Gibson was roughed up by knocking down six of his 33 shots.