BUFFALO Madison Bowey Jersey , N.Y. (AP) Former defenseman Mike Weber is all too familiar with the Sabres¡® lean years while spending a majority of his eight NHL seasons in Buffalo.There were high-priced free agents who failed to pan out and one draft-pick bust after another. Weber made the playoffs just twice, with Buffalo eliminated in the first round both times.And then there was the so-called ¡±tank season¡± in 2014-15, when Sabres fans openly rooted for the team to finish last for the right to draft either now-Oilers captain, Connor McDavid, or Buffalo¡¯s eventual pick, Jack Eichel.As it happens, Weber also enjoyed a glimpse into what could well be the Sabres¡¯ more promising future following an eight-week stint with Frolunda, Sweden, last fall. Weber had an opportunity to play alongside defenseman Rasmus Dahlin , the highly touted 18-year-old projected to be selected by Buffalo with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft on Friday night.Perhaps, Weber said, things might finally be looking up in Buffalo.¡±I really, truly believe you guys are going to be getting a once-in-a-lifetime kind of talent,¡± said Weber, now an assistant coach with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League.¡±This first overall pick puts a stamp on it, put whatever happened in the past in the past,¡± he added. ¡±Hopefully, it¡¯s something you guys can look back on at the suffering and rebuilding and tanking and all of this stuff where you can sit there and kind of laugh about it.¡±Though ¡±suffering¡± might be overly dramatic, it resonates in Buffalo because that¡¯s the word former general manager Darcy Regier repeated numerous times during an end-of-season news conference in April 2013 where he braced fans for a top-to-bottom roster overhaul.Five years, two GMs, four coaches and three last-place finishes later Nicklas Backstrom Jersey , the Sabres remain stagnant while in the midst of a franchise-worst seven-year playoff drought.The team has not topped 35 wins in each of the past five years. And forward Ryan O¡¯Reilly closed last season by suggesting a losing culture has crept into the locker room.Dahlin has the potential of injecting hope in Buffalo with his exceptional skating and play-making abilities. Weber compares Dahlin¡¯s speed to that of Senators captain Erik Karlsson, and shiftiness to former Red Wings star forward Pavel Datsyuk.¡±I still bleed blue and gold,¡± Weber said, referring to Sabres colors. ¡±And the possibility of him being a cornerstone going forward and helping the organization and the city win a championship is pretty special.¡±Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, who maintains a home in suburban Buffalo, can sense the buzz Dahlin has generated.¡±Buffalo needs a boost, and the fans have been waiting a long time for it,¡± Bowman said. ¡±People I know that have had tickets for a long time are excited.¡±The Sabres have been in freefall since losing Game 7 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals to eventual champion Carolina. Some of Buffalo¡¯s bleakest moments:BLACK SUNDAYThat¡¯s what Sabres fans refer to July 1, 2007, when Buffalo lost co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere in free agency. Days later, rather than losing yet another star, the Sabres matched the Oilers¡¯ qualifying offer to Thomas Vanek by re-signing the forward to a seven-year, $50 million contract. Buffalo has not won a playoff series since.MONEY FOR NOTHINGIn 2011, the Sabres made splashes by acquiring defenseman Robyn Regehr in a trade with Calgary, and signing defenseman Christian Ehrhoff to a 10-year, $40 million contract and forward Ville Leino to a six-year, $27 million deal. Regehr played just 105 games in Buffalo before being traded to Los Angeles. Leino and Ehrhoff played three seasons before the Sabres bought out their contacts.TRADE WINDSFormer GM Tim Murray¡¯s most significant trade in his rebuilding plan came on Feb. 11, 2015. He dealt defenseman Tyler Myers, forwards Drew Stafford, Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux and a first-round pick to Winnipeg to acquire forward Evander Kane, defenseman Zach Bogosian and prospect goalie Jason Kasdorf. Kane is now in San Jose. Kasdorf played just one game in Buffalo. Bogosian has combined to miss 108 games due to an assortment of injuries over the past three seasons.POOR DRAFTSOf the 15 players selected by Buffalo in the 2010 and `11 drafts James Neal Jersey Womens , only four made the NHL and combined to play 144 career games for Buffalo. Of the 23 players Buffalo drafted from 2005-¡¯07, only nine played in the NHL and none topped 400 games.BAD BREAKSAside from losing the NHL draft lottery after finishing last in both 2014 and `15, the Sabres lost out to Toronto in the Mike Babcock coaching sweepstakes in May 2015. The Sabres thought they were closing in on a deal before Babcock announced he was going to take an extra day to reconsider. Babcock signed with Toronto and the Sabres hired Dan Bylsma, who was fired after two seasons.FRANCHISE LOWSIn finishing last in 2013-14, Buffalo scored 150 goals, the fewest in the NHL¡¯s post-expansion era. The following season, the Sabres scored 153 goals and were shut out a franchise-worst 14 times. This past year, the Sabres won 11 home games, matching their fewest in any season.¡ªAP Hockey Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report.¡ª WASHINGTON (AP) Overtime came at the perfect time for the Washington Capitals.Outshot, outskated and outplayed by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a lopsided third period of Game 5, the Capitals went into their locker room at intermission Saturday with no choice but to talk about what went wrong in blowing yet another lead.¡±We knew we had to be better,¡± Nicklas Backstrom said.Better they were in a dominant overtime that Backstrom ended 11:53 in with his second goal of the game to give Washington a 4-3 victory and a 3-2 lead over the Blue Jackets in the first-round series. Thanks to goaltender Braden Holtby making 15 of his 39 saves in the third period and Backstrom¡¯s first two goals of these playoffs, the Metropolitan Division champions can close out Columbus on the road Monday in Game 6.¡±I think we¡¯ve always regrouped at intermissions and came back,¡± said Holtby, who has stopped 102 of 109 shots since replacing Philipp Grubauer in net two periods into Game 2. ¡±It shows our confidence and our experience in a lot of areas.¡±The playoff-tested Capitals took punch after punch when they were outshot 16-1 by the Blue Jackets in the third period, including Oliver Bjorkstrand¡¯s deflection goal 2:30 in that tied it. Holtby made saves in quantity and quality, most notably on Columbus No. 1 center Pierre-Luc Dubois on a rebound and again on an attempt to bat the puck out of the air, to get to overtime for the fourth time in five games this series.That¡¯s when everything changed. Suddenly, two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was besieged, having to stop Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson from point-blank range early in overtime.¡±We just came out as a new team,¡± Carlson said. ¡±We¡¯ve went out and attacked in every game that we¡¯ve won. That was our mindset T.J. Oshie Jersey , and I think we played a great overtime.¡±Overtime has been the difference in this series. Artemi Panarin and Matt Calvert scored the winners in Games 1 and 2 for Columbus, Lars Eller in double OT in Game 3 for Washington and then Backstrom in Game 5, deflecting defenseman Dmitry Orlov¡¯s shot past Bobrovsky to send the sellout crowd in Washington into a frenzy.¡±I got a tip on it, and it¡¯s usually what happens in the playoffs,¡± Backstrom said. ¡±Tip goals or rebound goals. That¡¯s the way it is.¡±The road team won the first four games of a Stanley Cup playoff series for the fifth time over the past 10 years. Holtby¡¯s 39 saves, including a big one on Bjorkstrand in overtime, made sure the home team won Game 5 for the fifth time.¡±One of our best players, our goalie, was our best player again,¡± Washington forward Brett Connolly said. ¡±He¡¯s come in here and he¡¯s played three amazing games. Kudos to him. He¡¯s been great for us and we obviously need him to keep playing this way if we¡¯re going to be successful.¡±Bobrovsky didn¡¯t play poorly other than perhaps a soft goal allowed to Evgeny Kuznetsov early in the second period. After two goals from Matt Calvert and his team¡¯s effort wasn¡¯t enough Saturday, coach John Tortorella is betting on ¡±Bob¡± to come up big again in Game 6.¡±Two good goalies. Good game,¡± Tortorella said. ¡±We¡¯ll be back here for Game 7.¡±It¡¯s now the Capitals¡¯ goal to avoid a Game 7 at home, where they¡¯re 2-5 over the past decade in the Ovechkin era. Coach Barry Trotz, whose team has lost the past two times they¡¯ve played Game 7 at home, shrugged off Tortorella¡¯s assurance of a game in Washington on Wednesday after players insisted they know what to expect from Columbus in Game 6.¡±What else is he going to say?¡± Trotz said. ¡±It¡¯s our job for that not to happen.¡±NOTES: Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 29 shots. ¡­ Thirteen of the Capitals¡¯ past 24 playoff games have been decided in overtime. ¡­ With an assist on T.J. Oshie¡¯s power-play goal, Carlson has eight points through five games. ¡­ Ovechkin led all players with seven shots on goal. ¡­ Calvert scored twice in a playoff game for the second time in his career. ¡­ Blue Jackets C Alexander Wennberg returned after missing Games 2, 3 and 4 following a hit to the head from Tom Wilson. He replaced Sonny Milano in the lineup. ¡­ The Capitals made no changes after winning back-to-back games in Columbus, keeping Chandler Stephenson on the second line in the absence of Andre Burakovsky, who¡¯s out for at least the remainder of the series with an upper-body injury.¡ª