WASHINGTON: Before yesterday’s game, Capitals coach Adam Oates had a feeling Jason Chimera was getting close to breaking out of his scoreless slump.
He was right.
Chimera scored his first regular-season goal in nearly a year and the Capitals held on for a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres yesterday, raising expectations that Chimera and Washington’s offense might be finding their form.
Troy Brouwer, Marcus Johansson and Matthieu Perrault all added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who broke out of an offensive funk in which they had scored only seven times in five games - losing four.
And Alex Ovechkin got the Capitals (12-15-1) going with his 350th NHL goal, just 19 seconds in, and Washington beat Buffalo at home for the seventh time in eight games.
Now, as they attempt a playoff push, they’re hoping Chimera can be a more frequent contributor. Washington ended the night six points out of a playoff spot.
“I told him, yesterday in (Saturday’s 4-1 loss) against Boston, we had 11 chances and he was involved in six of them,” Oates said of Chimera, who scored 20 goals a season ago. Agencies
