BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Bowen Byram scored the deciding goal and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped all five attempts he faced in a shootout to give the Sabres a 4-3 victory against the Washington Capitals at sold-out KeyBank Center on Saturday night
Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Isak Rosen scored in regulation for the Sabres (5-4-3), who had lost their past three games in overtime. Having secured a standings point in eight of the past nine games, the victory gave Buffalo a winning record for the first time this season.
Luukkonen settled in after allowing two goals in the opening minutes to make 31 saves in his second start of the season. He became the third Sabres goaltender and first since Jhonas Enroth in 2014 to stop five or more attempts in a shootout.
Rosen scored his first NHL goal to give the Sabres a 3-2 lead late in the first. It was the 22-year-old Rosen’s season debut and 16th NHL appearance after being called up from Rochester where he’s tallied 67 goals and 154 points in 202 AHL games.
Byram’s attempt in the fifth round of the shootout was the first of the his NHL career.
Thompson and Tuch both got their fifth goals of the season to tie the score by the midway point of the first period.
Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas and Sonny Milano scored for the Capitals (6-6-0). Alex Ovechkin was unable to tally his 900th career goal and was one of the Washington players stopped by Luukkonen in the shootout. Charlie Lindgren made 20 saves.
Up next
The Sabres host JJ Peterka and the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.