Stars lead the way: 4 reasons the Caps won the season opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Peter Laviolette era is off to a good start as the Capitals earned the 6-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres Thursday in the season-opener.
Here is how Washington won.
The Stars
Getting more depth scoring was a major talking point in the offseason, but it was the stars who led the way on Thursday. T.J. Oshie had a goal and 2 assists, Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist, Alex Ovechkin had two assists and John Carlson had a goal and an assist.
Washington is going to play some tougher defenses than the Sabres this season, but Thursday was an encouraging start for the team's top players. Buffalo simply had no answer for the Caps' top line.
A key penalty kill
In the first period, Backstrom scored the first goal, Buffalo responded about three minutes later and Oshie scored about two minutes after that. To that point, it was a back-and-forth affair in which the Caps held only a one-goal lead. The game turned early in the second when Washington was able to turn aside a power play opportunity after Nic Dowd was called or holding.
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Less than three minutes later, Carlson made it 3-1. It was a key swing in the game that turned a close game into a comfortable one for Washington.
A backbreaking miss
For the most part, the Caps' power play looked much improved compared to last year's unit. The transitions into the offensive zone were very clean and the puck movement was much faster and more decisive. In the second period, however, there was a sloppy sequence in the defensive zone that really should have led to a shorthanded goal for the Sabres.
Riley Sheahan and Curtis Lazar pestered the Caps in the defensive zone and nearly were able to tuck the puck into the net. Instead, about a minute after the power play expired, Brenden Dillon extended Washington's lead to three as he let go a wrister that found its way through the traffic in front and into the back of the net.
It was a two-goal swing and a gut punch to Buffalo.
A backbreaking response
Give the Sabres credit, they didn't back down when the score was 4-1. Tobias Rieder made it 4-2 late in the second period and Jake McCabe made it a brand-new game as he scored 22 seconds into the third to pull Buffalo to within one. Just 26 seconds later, however, Eric Staal handed Jakub Vrana a gift and the knockout punch.
Colin Miller retrieved the puck behind the net and fed it up to Staal who was in the faceoff circle. With Vrana coming at him on the forecheck, Staal stopped and tried to awkwardly backhand it through the middle and ended up just basically handing the puck to Vrana
It was a horrific mistake that made the score 5-3 and not one you would expect from an experienced veteran like Staal.
