Ovechkin Shows Sabres the Meaning of Clutch

The Sabres recorded another disappointing one goal loss tonight, falling to the Caps 3-2. Unlike other recent games, they never led in this one, falling behind 2-0, coming back to 2-1 before going down 3-1 and scoring a late goal to make it 3-2.  

Hats off to Thomas Vanek.  At the end of the second period, he stepped in front of Ovechkin's blistering shot and took it on the outside of his foot.  He was in such pain he had to crawl to the Sabres bench on his knees to get off the ice, and did not return for the rest of the period.  

Six minutes into the third period, Vanek created some space for himself in front of the Caps net on a Sabres power play, took a nice cross-ice pass from Stafford and beat Theodore cleanly to get the Sabres back to within one.

You would think that might have inspired the Sabres to stage a comeback.  Winning from 2-0 down would pale besides the Caps storming back from 4-0 deficit to win against the Rangers in their previous game, but for the Sabres, a comeback of any kind would be a morale builder.

Shortly after Vanek's goal, Kotalik made a nice in-out move to get around the Cap's defenseman and skate in alone on Theodore.  A goal would tie the game and send all the momentum the Sabres' way.  But this night he was not up to the task and buried his shot in Theodore's pads.

A minute later, Lydman tried to keep the keep the puck in the offensive zone, but it was chipped out to a breaking Ovechkin.  Tallinder came over to support, but Ovechkin slipped the puck through Tallinder's skates and jumped to the inside.  As Tallinder hauled him down, Ovechkin fired a snap shot just inside the right post to put the Caps up 3-1.

"He's one of the best, if not the best player in the league," Lydman said. "You know every time he is on the ice you've got to be sharp and you've got to be watching."

Lydman had the perfect view to watch Ovechkin score as he glided back in pursuit after Ovechkin sped around him and faked Tallinder out of his socks.

It was an All-Star goal and highlighted the world of difference between Ovechkin, whose spark and fire ignites the Caps, and Kotalik, who is blessed with 235 pounds of muscle and a wicked shot, but no where near Ovechkin's desire or ability in the clutch.

The aspect of this game most similar to their other recent losses, is that Sabres seem to be the less desperate team when the game is up for grabs in the third period.  With the exception of Vanek and Roy, few Sabres seem either willing or talented enough to make the extraordinary effort needed to grab a close game and turn it into a win.  

The Sabres have lost three in a row, but as Lydman said after the game, "The good news is we're playing better and we're battling a lot more.  You just have to believe it will turn around for us."  

Its amazing how winning in sports seems to follow the teams that work the hardest and want it the most.

Game notes:  Patrick Lalime stepped in for Ryan Miller, faced 34 shots, and made some nice saves.  Like Miller, he played well, just not well enough to win a game where the Sabres were outplayed.  Kozlov's first goal was a rocket, just inside the far post but from a sharp angle that few goals are scored from.  On the second Cap's goal, the shot wasn't that hard and the deflection occurred far enough out that it looked like Lalime maybe should have stopped it.  Not to say Miller would have stopped them either.  

The good news!  Max Afinogenov scored his second goal of the year and first in 17 games.  It wasn't on one of his trademark dizzying end-to-end rushes, but rather deflected in off his shin pads as he jumped to get out of the way of Lydman's shot.  Memo to Max - more good things seem to happen in front of the net than curling at the blue line.