WASHINGTON - Center Dainius Zubrus returned to the Washington Capitals' lineup last night after a month's absence to jump-start the team's offense and set the tone for a 4-3 victory over the struggling Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres, 8-22-5-1, came into the game with the league's worst record. But, thanks to two lucky bounces that resulted in Buffalo goals, the Caps still needed goals from Zubrus, Mike Grier, Jaromir Jagr and a game-winner from rookie Ivan Ciernik with 8:24 to play to put away the battling Sabres.
Washington (18-16-3-1) finally emerged the winner and will play again at 3 p.m. here tomorrow at MCI Center against the Phoenix Coyotes, a team the Caps beat two weeks ago.
Washington, 5-0-1-1 in its past seven games, has pulled to two points behind Southeast Division leader Tampa Bay.
The Sabres, who got goals from Dmitri Kalinin off the crossbar, Miroslav Satan on a ricochet with a two-man advantage, and Vaclav Varada, have lost six straight and play the New York Islanders tonight.
"We have to learn how to play better with the lead," Grier said. "Early in the year, we didn't have any leads. But after the first period tonight, we did better. And Zubie was a big spark for us."
The Capitals made the most of Zubrus' return. The strapping, 6-foot-4 veteran had been on injured reserve since undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur from his hand a month of ago. He was initially told he'd need four to six weeks to get back on the ice, and he missed 12 games before yesterday morning's decision to play him.
He was activated and on his first shift, the 24-year-old scored the Caps' first goal just 3:43 into the game after Ken Klee picked off a pass and fed him the puck. Zubrus skated across the blue line and unloaded a slap shot that was simply too good for Buffalo goalie Martin Biron.
"The good thing about the injury was that I was able to work out the entire four weeks," said Zubrus, who played 17 minutes and was double shifted. "My goal was to come back in better shape than I was in when I left, and I think I've been able to do that.
"Scoring that goal so quickly helped my confidence a little bit and gave me more jump. You miss a month and when you come back you want to do well. It's not easy missing a month in the middle of the season."
Caps coach Bruce Cassidy said one game might not be a true measurement of Zubrus' conditioning, but he called the center "a horse" and was pleased with his return at a time when Jagr and Michael Nylander are fighting through nagging injuries that the coach refused to specify.
"Once we get through this week, our schedule is pretty good, and it should give those guys time to rest and heal and come back for some quality minutes," Cassidy said.