WASHINGTON (AP) — Braden Holtby and Tom Wilson gave the Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Braden Holtby and Tom Wilson gave the Washington Capitals another two points in the standings.Holby made 36 saves Philadelphia Flyers Hats Authentic , Wilson broke a tie with seven minutes left and the Stanley Cup champion Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Friday night.Evgeny Kuznetsov started the winning play when he stole the puck from goalie Carter Hutton behind the net. The center quickly fed Wilson just outside of the crease. Wilson has 10 goals in 15 games this season.“Whenever the goalie is behind the net, you just try and get open, just in case,” Wilson said. “(Kuznetsov) makes a great play, and you’ve just got to try and get it there before the goalie gets back in the net. It was good timing.”Still, the Capitals needed Holtby as Buffalo held a 37-24 edge in shots. The Sabres had 17 third-period shots, and Holtby made 16 saves in the final 20 minutes and came up big at the endWashington was under pressure late as Nic Dowd was called for tripping with 2:12 left in the game. The Capitals then spent most of the final two minutes killing off that penalty, dealing with a six-on-four situation for nearly a minute as Buffalo pulled Hutton in favor of an extra attacker.“(Holtby) was a big reason we were able to get two points tonight Custom Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys ,” Washington coach Todd Reirden said. “He was outstanding all game long. He had a huge role in us winning that game.”Holtby made a big play late in the second period by coming far out of his net to beat Rasmus Ristolainen to a loose puck and prevent a breakaway.The goalie raced out past the circle to nearly the blue line and even swatted the puck away from Ristolainen and Buffalo teammate Conor Sheary.“I thought I could get there,” Holtby said. “I was thinking I’d kind of have to get down to try and seal the ice and get it out of the blue line there. I didn’t really see the second guy coming so after that you just try and do whatever you can to keep it up.”Washington has won six of its last seven games and has beaten the Sabres twice at home in less than a week. Buffalo is 0-5-2 in its last seven games in Washington.The first period was scoreless, and Buffalo could not convert on three good scoring chances in the first 1:30 of the second.The Sabres then went on a power play 2:37 into the period, but Washington scored 13 seconds later with its second short-handed goal of the season. Dowd flipped a puck in the air from the Capitals’ zone that sprung Chandler Stephenson on a breakaway, and he beat Hutton for his first career short-handed score.Johan Larsson tied it for Buffalo at 9:01 of the third period, scoring from in close.Buffalo coach Phil Housley thought his team played well and came up with many scoring chances but agreed that Holtby might have been the difference.“Holtby played terrific,” Housley said. “Give Holtby credit. He’s a pretty good goaltender, and there’s a reason why he won the Stanley Cup.”NOTES: Andre Burakovsky returned to the Washington lineup after missing the past four games as a healthy scratch but did not score a point. … Housley played two seasons for Washington. … Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner of Buffalo had seven-game points streaks end.UP NEXTSabres: Host Anaheim on Saturday night.Capitals: At Ottawa on Saturday night. CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks have already endured their share of hardships this season.Now as they prepare to face the Nashville Predators on Tuesday www.officialpenguinsproshop.com , they’ll have to move forward as even more uncertainly surrounds their starting goalie, Corey Crawford. Crawford left Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks at the end of the first period with a concussion.Crawford, who missed nearly 10 months after sustaining a concussion last December, suffered the injury in a collision with teammate Dylan Strome and was placed on injured reserve (concussion protocol) on Monday. The Blackhawks recalled goaltender Colin Delia from their American Hockey League affiliate on Monday in a corresponding move.Article continues below ...“(Crawford is) such a big part of our team and to lose him, it’s not good,” defenseman Connor Murphy told reporters after Sunday’s loss, according to the team’s official website. “You just feel for him because a game like that, we left our goalies hung out to dry. And for them to take guys crashing on him is not even fair either.”The Blackhawks have been struggling even with Crawford in the lineup. Chicago has dropped 10 of its past 11 games and has lost two straight since snapping an eight-game skid with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now Pittsburgh Penguins T-Shirts Authentic , despite how well captain Jonathan Toews has played lately, the Blackhawks will again have to play without Crawford. Cam Ward, who made 30 saves in the lopsided loss to the Sharks, will, along Delia with now have to fill in for Crawford, who missed the final 47 games of last season the first five games this season with the Crawford.Chicago has no choice, but to move on without one of their mainstays from their Stanley Cup championship run.“”I mean, you never want to see that Pittsburgh Penguins Hoodies Authentic , but we have to keep playing,” defenseman Duncan Keith told reporters on Sunday, according to the team’s official website. “It’s just one of those things that hopefully he’s back. I don’t know what happened, but nothing should change.”The Predators are coming off a 4-3 overtime road loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday that snapped Nashville’s three-game winning streak. Nashville surrendered three first-period goals in their first loss since Dec. 8.The Predators erased the deficit with a pair of Roman Josi goals and another by Craig Smith, whose third-period tally got Nashville to within a goal before Josi tied the game at 3 before Ottawa scored 21 seconds into overtime.The three Ottawa goals on just 11 shots early chased Pekka Rinne after one period before Juuse Saros made 11 saves.Now, Nashville will need to quickly move past Monday’s loss in the second game of a four-game road trip in which Nashville will play four times in six days. With Rinne’s shortened performance Monday and with a heavy workload upcoming, Saros — who has struggled this season — may be called on again soon.But the Predators need to play better in front of him, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said if they hope to continue to find success.“I’m going to be perfectly honest. I think that we’ve played lousy in front of (Saros) Pittsburgh Penguins Hats Authentic ,” Laviolette said over the weekend, according to the Athletic. “There’s got to be accountability to the 18 guys that go out in front of him. Just too many odd-man rushes, too many point-blank chances, and that’s got to stop. And when that stops, he’s going to feel better and look better in there. There’s just too much coming at him.”