Where: HSBC Arena, Washington, DC
When: November 1, 2008, 7:00 PM
History:
Caps Record on this Date: 6-6-2-0
Caps Game 10 Record: 12-16-5-0
All-Time vs. BUF: 33-75-15-1
All-Time At BUF: 17-39-6-0
Last Season vs. BUF: 1-3-0
Last Meeting: 3/5/08, WAS 3 BUF 1
This Year:
WAS Record: 5-3-1
Standings Points: 11
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 8th
Last Game: 10/28/08, WAS 4 NAS 3 (OT-SO)
Streak: Win 2
BUF Record: 6-2-2
Standings Points: 14
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 4th
Last Game: 10/30/08, BUF 2 TAM 5
Streak: Loss 2
Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 21 LAICH, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 16 FEHR, 91 FEDOROV, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 17 CLARK
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 55 SCHULTZ, 3 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 23 JURCINA, 4 ERSKINE
Goalie: 60 THEODORE
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON
Buffalo
Forward Line 1: 20 PAILLE, 9 ROY, 21 STAFFORD
Forward Line 2: 26 VANEK, 22 MAIR, 12 KOTALIK
Forward Line 3: 41 MACARTHUR, 28 GAUSTAD, 29 POMINVILLE
Forward Line 4: 37 ELLIS, 19 CONNOLLY, 61 AFINOGENOV
Defense Pair 1: 44 SEKERA, 6 SPACEK
Defense Pair 2: 5 LYDMAN, 27 NUMMINEN
Defense Pair 3: 10 TALLINDER, 4 WEBER
Goalie: 30 MILLER
Back-up Goalie: 40 LALIME
Injuries:
Washington – 2 POTHIER (concussion) IR, 8 OVECHKIN (personal reasons) DTD
Buffalo – 55 HECHT (finger) IR, 52 RIVET (knee) IR
Caps Milestones:
Victor Kozlov needs 1 point to reach 500 in his career.
Matt Bradley needs 4 points to reach 100 in his career.
Michael Nylander needs 3 shots on goal to reach 1,600 in his career.
Sergei Fedorov needs 3 penalty minutes to reach 800 in his career.
Sergei Fedorov needs 7 shots on goal to reach 3,900 in his career.
Preview:
The Capitals travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres in a clash of 2nd place teams. The Sabres started out strong but have fallen in their last two games. The two teams boast strong offenses with Thomas Vanek of Buffalo and Alexander Semin of Washington pacing all goal scorers and point getters in the NHL. Buffalo is a very fast team but the Washington defense will be bolstered by the return of Tom Poti. Poti practiced with the team this week and with his return Tyler Sloan has been sent back to Hershey. Watch for the Caps to keep the Buffalo skaters to the outside of the rink and force them to take long range shots. The team also needs to stay out of the penalty box. Last season they were one of the fewest penalized teams. This year has not been so good. The Caps will once again be without their All-World left winger Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin is still in Russia but is, from news accounts, expected back on Monday. The Caps and Sabres are particularly fond of each other so it should be high paced and very physical. I’m thinking another 1-goal game. It would be the Caps 7th straight 1-goal result.
Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 BUF 4
No comments:
Post a Comment