Michael Augello Sun, October 25, 2026 at 6:15 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Buffalo Sabres have continued to put forth incomplete efforts this season, that is costing them valuable points in the standings. The Sabres have dug themselves early holes in most of their first 11 games, but the club uncharacteristically took an early lead, before squandering it in the second period in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Former Sabre Alex Tuch scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner with 1:18 remaining in overtime, to hand Buffalo their third straight loss. Jack Quinn and Josh Doan staked Buffalo to a 2-0 lead, but Tuch and Dylan Strome erased that lead, and Strome scored his second of the game to give Washington the lead after 40 minutes. Noah Ostlund tied the contest in the third, but the Sabres were outshot in the game 34-21.
"There were mistakes by both teams. They capitalized on a couple of ours, and I thought we could have capitalized on a couple of theirs late," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. " I thought we possessed it for a while (in overtime).. We just didn't make the right decision on a couple plays. I thought we could have, tried to get some subtle picks in. The play on the goal, we're still in man-on-man coverage, and one of our forwards let go.
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Tuch, who leads the Capitals with seven goals, got a fortunate bounce off of a Buffalo player past goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen late in the first, and scored from the slot to give Washington the win.
"I thought (Alex) played well. I guess you'd have to say (he was)) pretty fortunate on the first one." Ruff said. " I think he had one or two looks in the game, but I thought he played well. I just expected him to play well, and I thought he did."
The Sabres were without forward Jiri Kulich, but Ruff indicated that he was feeling better after getting hit with a puck in the face at practice on Friday. The 22-year-old is hoping to join the club for the California leg of their four-game road swing, but will have to pass tests in Buffalo before reuniting with his teammates. The head coach also indicated that with Alex Lyon still not ready to play, backup Colten Ellis will see action in one of the three games against San Jose, Anaheim or Los Angeles.
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Source: Sports
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