Capitals KO'd In the First

Olie Kolzig, right, replaces Brent Johnson in goal after Johnson yields four goals on the first six shots he faced. (Gary Wiepert - Reuters)

Ovechkin went down in a heap after getting speared in the Buffalo zone in the first period. Although the 21-year-old Russian said he didn't see who did it, he found Briere during a stoppage in a play moments later and told him, "If you want to fight it, let's fight it."

Nothing of the sort happened.

"That kid has a lot of jam," Sabres Coach Lindy Ruff said. "He plays with fire, there's a lot emotion. I still don't like the hit, but I've got no issues with him. I kind of like the way he plays."

The Capitals return home Wednesday to face Montreal before returning to the road for back-to-back games against New Jersey and the New York Rangers on Friday and Saturday. It's one of the toughest parts of their schedule, and they are going to forge on short-handed.

Missing Tuesday were defensemen Shaone Morrisonn (illness) as well as John Erskine and Bryan Muir, each of whom has a broken bone in his foot. And that's on top of missing forwards Matt Bradley (hand surgery) and Richard Zednik (abdominal surgery).

But the Capitals weren't using injuries and inexperience as an excuse.

"We didn't move our feet," defenseman Jamie Heward said. "They dictated things to us. Any team, even a veteran team, will let goals in if you play like that."

"We spent too much time in our zone in the first period, put too much pressure on our defense," Capitals Coach Glen Hanlon. "Our defense is extremely inexperienced. But we needed to support them in other ways."

The game was decided by the time the first period was half done after Johnson yielded four goals on the first six shots he faced.

"After my next performance I need to be able to look myself in the mirror and say I gave it everything," Johnson said. "I can't do that tonight."

Buffalo defenseman Brian Campbell opened the scoring only 1:51 into the game, ripping a one-timer from the slot past Johnson. Drury made it 2-0 at 3:33 when his bouncing shot somehow eluded the Capitals' netminder on the Sabres' second shot. Drury's second came on another point-blank one-timer, which gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead.

Johnson splintered his goal stick over the crossbar and Hanlon called a time out.

It got worse.

Ales Kotalik scored 15 seconds later -- on just the Sabres' sixth shot -- to put the Sabres ahead 4-0. Johnson was replaced by Olie Kolzig, who stopped all but two of the 33 shots he faced.

The other Sabres' goals were scored by Maxim Afinogenov (on the power play) and Thomas Vanek.