WASHINGTON — A giveaway in overtime by a player with two goals ruined the Buffalo Sabres' night Wednesday in

Atlanta. In a bizarre bit of Groundhog Day hockey, it was the same scenario Friday night in

the Verizon Center.

But this time, the Sabres got the benefit of the big mistake.

Washington veteran Sergei Fedorov was the victim, as his lazy backhand pass up the middle

was intercepted by Tim Connolly. The Buffalo center fed Jason Pominville for the breakaway

that produced the game-winning goal at 1:51 of OT as the Sabres outlasted the Washington

Capitals, 5-4, to squeeze tighter into the playoff race.

Fedorov, who beat Ryan Miller with a pair of long-distance goals in the second period to

give the Caps a 4-3 lead, never got his pass to Alex Ovechkin. The Washington star had already

burned Buffalo with his league-leading 55th goal and two assists but never got the puck on the

game's key play.

"I was skating up that side and [Fedorov] looked at Ovechkin," said Connolly, who had three

assists. "I had to read the play and get a jump on the pass. I got it and then Pommer made a

great play."

Connolly chased the puck inside the blue line and feathered it past defenseman Jeff Schultz to

Pominville streaking down the slot with no Caps in sight.

Pominville sized it up and made no mistake, blowing a quick snap shot through Simeon

Varlamov's legs for his 17th of the year. The Sabres are just 2-4 in OT this year and had not

won one since Derek Roy beat Minnesota way back on Oct. 23.

"Timmy just stopped it, I had to go onside and he just laid it in there for me perfectly,"

Pominville said. "I was shooting five-hole. I didn't want to at first but kind of saw it and

decided right there."

Fedorov's goat horns matched the ones earned by Thomas Vanek, who lost the puck to

Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk for the game-winner Wednesday.

"We leaned on their mistake like Atlanta leaned on ours the other night," said coach Lindy

Ruff. "It was an identical mistake."

The Sabres also got some help out of town as the red-hot Thrashers won at Florida, 3-1. The

Sabres have 85 points, four behind the idle, eighth-place New York Rangers (who have a toughie

this afternoon at Boston) and just two behind the Panthers.

Buffalo survived a wild game before a roaring, red-clad crowd of 18,277 that also

included plenty of Sabres fans.

Washington scored three power-play goals, two in the second period when the Sabres took six

penalties and were short two men for nearly five minutes. Alexander Semin and Fedorov (on an

unscreened 50-footer) scored in a nine-second span early in the period to put the Caps into a

3-2 lead.

Still, the penalty killers did yeoman's work as the damage tab could have been much worse

and left the Sabres no chance to recover

"We battled hard. ... Guys were sacrificing bodies, staying in shot lanes," Ruff said. "We

were right there. We just had to stay with it. If you battle that hard, you're going to get

rewarded."

The Sabres tied it on Roy's power-play goal, a neat redirection from Connolly at 18:17. But

the Caps took a 4-3 lead when Fedorov's screened shot from the left boards eluded Miller 23

seconds later.

Maxim Afinogenov tied it at 4-4 with 9:39 to go on another Connolly feed after having a

goal wiped out early in the period on a dubious goaltender interference ruling.

Miller made 33 saves and worked hard with the penalty-killing unit. He also drew the ire of

the crowd for a face-wash with his glove on Ovechkin, who barreled into him on a bull rush to

the net in the third period and earned an interference penalty.

"He's a big body and he thinks he deserves a chance to cut as hard as he wants," Miller

said. "I'm coming off an ankle injury and I don't want anybody blowing me over.

"Whatever. I get to play the villain for the night. I don't go into too many rinks where

I'm getting booed for something other than stopping the puck. I held off. I didn't hit him. I

gave him a push to say, "Smarten up.'"