Sabres beat Capitals 4-3 in shootout, Ovechkin stuck at 899

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram scored the deciding goal in the shootout to give the Buffalo Sabres a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

Alex Ovechkin was held without a goal for the fourth straight game and remains one shy of 900 for the Capitals who have lost four in a row. Byram’s first career shootout goal was the only one in the five-round shootout. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped all five Capitals, including Ovechkin, and made 31 saves.

Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas and Sonny Milano each scored, and Charlie Lindgren made 21 saves for Washington.

Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Isak Rosen each had a goal for Buffalo who have points in six straight games and eight of nine.

The game began with three goals in the opening 2:30 and five total in the first period.

Strome, who missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury, opened the scoring at 1:07 of the first period and Protas gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead 1:08 later. Thompson made it 2-1 just 15 seconds after that. Tuch made it 2-2 at 10:02 and Rosen’s first NHL goal gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead with 1:15 left.

Milano made it a 3-3 game with a deflection of a Matt Roy shot with 43 seconds left in the second period.