The Washington Capitals got some much-needed help at center on Saturday night when Dylan Strome returned to the lineup against the Buffalo Sabres. Strome had missed two games after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Ottawa Senators on October 25 before coming back against Buffalo.

Strome’s return came at a key moment for Washington after a slew of injuries depleted the team’s forward corps. The Capitals lost Pierre-Luc Dubois for the second time this season to a lower-body injury on Friday against the New York Islanders, and call-up Ethen Frank suffered an injury of his own in Dallas on Tuesday.

Should Strome have stayed out of the lineup, Spencer Smallman would have made his NHL debut just hours after driving in from Hershey.

Strome’s status was up in the air into Saturday evening — head coach Spencer Carbery labeled him a game-time decision just hours before puck drop. But once Strome hit the ice, he wasted no time getting back to work.

Just over a minute into the game, Strome hit paydirt, sniping in a rebound from Anthony Beauviullier past Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

The goal kicked off a high-scoring start to the night, with Aliaksei Protas giving the Caps a two-goal lead before three Sabres goals saw Buffalo take the lead.

Strome logged the most ice time of any Capitals forward on Saturday, registering a season-high 22:13. With him at the ice at five-on-five, the Caps outshot the Sabres 8-5 and recorded 52.40% of expected goals, though they got out-chanced 6-5. Strome also spent 5:20 on the power play, including 04:01 in the third period alone, where the team found significantly less success.

After the game, Strome told reporters he felt physically comfortable against Buffalo, though he admittedly wasn’t pleased with his or the team’s performance in the 4-3 shootout loss.

“Yeah, (I felt) not bad, pretty good,” he said. “Felt good with the puck, making some plays. Ultimately would have liked to capitalize a few more chances, but like I said, with the whole team, it’s a step in the right direction, and for myself too, just nice to be back out there with the guys and playing and get ready for Wednesday.”

Strome was Washington’s top scorer in 2024-25, registering 82 points (29g, 53a) in the regular season before adding 11 points (2g, 9a) in 10 playoff games. With 11 points (3g, 8a) in his first 10 games this fall, his 1.10 point-per-game pace currently leads the team.

Strome and the Capitals will have three days to regroup before attempting to halt a four-game losing streak against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.