Alex Tuch’s first look at the Buffalo Sabres from the other bench ended with an overtime winner. The Washington Capitals winger scored twice, including a slot wrist shot with 1:18 remaining in overtime, to lift Washington past Buffalo 4-3 at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Tuch, acquired from Buffalo on June 26 in a sign-and-trade that brought him an eight-year, $84 million contract, took Dylan Strome’s pass from behind the goal line and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from the middle of the ice. It was Tuch’s first game against the club he represented for the previous five seasons.
“Tuchy made a great move to get free, and I saw him in the slot,” Strome said. “He’s a really good shooter and put it in the net.”
The Syracuse, New York, native said the finish carried extra weight against his former teammates.
“I loved playing for the Sabres, and I think everyone knows that,” Tuch said. “When you play your former team, you always want to score. To get the winner was pretty special.”
After the horn
Strome drove Washington’s offense with two goals and an assist as the Capitals improved to 6-4-0 and won for the third time in four outings. Jordan Kyrou and Jakob Chychrun each supplied two assists, while Charlie Lindgren settled in after an uneven opening period to make 18 saves.
Buffalo built a two-goal lead before Washington found its footing. Jack Quinn opened the scoring at 6:27 of the first period, taking Olen Zellweger’s feed from the left boards, cutting toward the crease and lifting the puck past Lindgren.
Josh Doan made it 2-0 at 10:36. Ryan McLeod intercepted a Chychrun pass behind the Washington net and found Doan at the right circle for a one-timer.
Lindgren put the early deficit on himself.
“I personally did not like my start at all,” Lindgren said. “On the first two goals, I felt like I dug the team a hole. I really appreciate the effort in front of me. We kept working and kept fighting.”
Tuch got Washington on the board at 16:10 of the first, although his attempt to send a pass through the middle redirected off Tage Thompson’s stick and slipped by Luukkonen.
“I told him I can always find his stick,” Tuch said of Thompson. “It was a crazy bounce, obviously. That was the kind of break we needed to get going and put more pressure on them.”
Strome evened the game 2-2 at 2:59 of the second period, corralling a bouncing puck around the net front and sliding a backhand inside the right post four seconds after a Washington power play expired.
The Capitals moved ahead late in the period when Kyrou fed Strome below the goal line. Strome crossed the low slot and snapped his second goal past Luukkonen at 17:24, only 46 seconds after Lindgren denied Zach Benson with a left-pad stop on a partial breakaway.
Noah Ostlund forced overtime at 2:20 of the third period. His shot changed direction off Capitals defenseman Matt Roy and found its way in for a 3-3 game.
“I think we’ve played well in third periods all year,” Ostlund said. “There’s a little more desperation and a little higher emotion.”
The Sabres could not convert that push into a second point. Buffalo fell to 4-4-3 and has dropped three straight games, going 1-1-3 over its past five. Luukkonen stopped 30 shots.
Rasmus Dahlin pointed to Buffalo’s second-period letdown after its sharp opening 20 minutes.
“That’s something we have to focus on moving forward,” Dahlin said. “We start strong, then feel good about the first period. We have to remember it’s 60 minutes. We have to push every shift, and it’s not going to be easy.”
Dahlin said the Sabres will take their point and turn toward a three-game California trip that begins Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks.
Tuch reached three multi-goal games in his first 10 contests with Washington, the quickest any Capitals player has done so with the franchise. He passed Alex Ovechkin, who needed 11 games in 2005-06.
Lindgren appeared in his 144th game as a Capitals goalie, moving past Pat Riggin for sixth on the franchise list. Quinn extended his scoring streak to four games and has nine points, including four goals, in his past six. Benson’s assist stretched his season-opening road assist streak to five games, the longest such run in Sabres history.
