Thompson, Tuch help Sabres outlast Ovechkin, Capitals with 8-5 win

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Buffalo Sabres center Ryan McLeod (71) scores a goal past Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (48) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) celebrates with teammates after his goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) celebrates after his goal with defenseman Connor Clifton (75) and center Peyton Krebs (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Washington Capitals center Connor McMichael (24) chases the puck against Buffalo Sabres center Ryan McLeod (71) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Washington Capitals center Lars Eller, left, battles for the puck against Buffalo Sabres center Jiri Kulich, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehérváry (42) skates with the puck past Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram (4) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson, right, hits Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (23) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Buffalo Sabres right wing JJ Peterka (77) chases the puck past Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

By SAMMI SILBER

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson each scored twice and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Washington Capitals 8-5 on Sunday.

Ryan McLeod, Sam Lafferty, Jack Quinn and Peyton Krebs also scored for the Sabres, winners of four of the last five.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 890th career goal to move within five of passing Wayne Gretzky, Jakob Chychrun had two goals and Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Capitals, who have lost three straight games for the second time this season.

James Reimer extended his winning streak to four games, stopping 24 of 29 shots to advance to 13-5-6.

Meanwhile, Logan Thompson stopped 15 of 22 shots in the loss to drop to 31-5-6 on the season.

Takeaways

Sabres: Tage Thompson struck twice on the power play for his fourth goal in as many games and now leads Buffalo with 38 goals this season. The Sabres now have power-play goals in back-to-back games and three of the last five overall.

Capitals: Chychrun continues to be a valuable pickup for D.C., as he hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career with another multigoal outing. He’s the first Capitals defenseman to record at least 20 goals in a season since Mike Green in 2008-09.

Key moment

Quinn capitalized on a turnover and broke away, beating Logan Thompson for the eventual game-winning goal.

Key stat

After playing for just under three minutes in the second period, Ovechkin scored on a deflection. He has 37 goals on the season, tied for the fifth-most in the NHL despite missing 16 games with a broken fibula.

Up next

The Sabres visit Ottawa on Tuesday, the same night the Capitals play at Boston.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl