Tage Thompson scores hat trick to fend off Caps’ comeback originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
WASHINGTON — The Capitals completed a two-goal comeback and forced overtime with a pair of key penalty kills late, but it wasn’t enough to fend off Tage Thompson and the Sabres as Buffalo won 5-4 in extra time.
After Thompson scored two goals to go along with a primary assist over the first 26 minutes of the game, the Capitals stormed back behind the strength of their own star forward. Alex Ovechkin scored in each of the final two periods to push the game into overtime, allowing Washington to extend its active point streak to eight games.
The Capitals engineered its comeback bid with goals on either end of the second intermission. Ovechkin scored his first tally on a snap shot off a faceoff late in the second period, cutting the Sabres’ lead in half. They then tied it when a shot by Sonny Milano, who scored the Capitals’ first-period goal, bounced off Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s pad with Nic Dowd in good position.
Ovechkin struck again at the 7:10 mark of the third, scoring from the low slot on a pass from Conor Sheary for his seventh multi-goal outing of the season and third in his last five games. It pushed his career total to 808.
Buffalo tied the game back up at four goals apiece on a score by center Tyson Jost midway through the third and Washington was forced to hang on in order to get the game to overtime. They were whistled for two penalties in the final two minutes of regulation, but the penalty-kill unit did enough to get the game into extra time and back to even strength.
Ultimately, it proved to be Thompson’s night as he netted the game-winner. Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper was tagged with the loss.
Prior to the game, the Capitals hosted a moment of acknowledgment for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a game Monday night. Sabres players arrived for the game wearing “Love for 3” T-shirts in support of Hamlin and put up posters on the glass behind their bench for warmups.
With the loss to Buffalo in their first of three meetings this season, Washington moved to 21-13-6 with 48 points on the year. The Capitals will look to keep their point streak alive when they travel to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the front end of a back-to-back Thursday.