Chad Johnson played out of his mind tonight for the Buffalo Sabres. Coming into tonights game 3-1 in his last 4, Johnson posed an early problem for the Capitals as they entered the third period trailing 2-1 on 28 shots on goal.
Justin Williams opened the Caps scoring the second when he tied the game at 1, but just minutes later Zemgus Girgensons put the Sabres in the lead as Johnson did the rest, shutting down shot after shot by Washington.
It's a common theme this Holiday season for the Capitals to stage a comeback, and this was no different. Alex Ovechkin bookended goals by Marcus Johansson and Andre Burakovsky to give the Caps a 5-2 win.
Chad Johnson finished the game with 38 saves.
Braden Holtby, who shut the Sabres out two nights ago, had 25 saves for his 24th win of the year.
Alex Ovechkin lead the way for the Caps with his 494th and 495th career goals (the last being an empty netter as he bullied his way passed defenseman Zach Bogosian).
Ovechkin is now 5 shy of 500.
The Capitals captain also became just the 19th player in NHL history to record 4,000 shots on goal since the NHL started keeping track in 1967.
The Caps have now won 9 straight games and now sit alone at the top of the league (for now) with 58 points and a 28-6-2 record.
The Caps were without John Carlson for a second straight game. Brooks Orpik is still out with a lower body injury, and Nicklas Backstrom and Jay Beagle both left the third period with apparent upper body injuries.
If Backstrom and Beagle are out for any time, it will only add more fuel to the Mike Richards rumors.
Happy New Year, folks!
More to come...