The Hard Way at Home

They didn’t do it the easy way . . .

Dainius Zubrus: out with the flu

Matt Bradley: out with family concerns

Jamie Heward: out with injury

Shaone Morrisonn: played with stomach flu

Alexander Ovechkin: missed the last 35:08 (ejection)

Richard Zednik: missed the last 24:00 (injury)

There is a third of the regular skating complement – kicked out, injured, sick, or addressing family matters – against the top team in the East that had lost only three games in regulation.

And they did it, even then, the hard way around, getting involved in an 11-goal pinball game, the kind of game The Peerless certainly didn't think the Caps could win (we're "peerless," not "perfect").

There are many things this club needs to learn on their way to contention for a championship. Part of that is dealing with adversity, having other guys step up when things are down. Players not mentioned above went 5-7-12 last night. Eleven players had points (including the Zednik and Ovechkin goals).

One might argue that the Sabres were playing the second half of a back-to-back, had an especially difficult travel situation getting out of Buffalo the night before, went to a shootout the night before with the Rangers . . . blah-blah-blah, wah-wah-wah . . . well, in six games representing the second-half of a back-to-back coming into last night's game, the Sabres were 5-1, outscoring their opponents, 27-20.

And this makes the Caps 3-0 on their five game swing among some of the league’s better teams (Tampa Bay, Dallas, Buffalo – all wins thus far – Ottawa, and Anaheim).

This is good.