The Buffalo Sabres have dominated the Washington Capitals in their first two meetings this season in Buffalo at a sold out First Niagara Center with scores of 5-1 and 4-2. The Sabres now have to head to Washington to take on the Caps tonight in the Verizon Center. It won't be so easy for Buffalo tonight as the Capitals have played extremely well at home this season and have the Eastern Conference's third best record at home. The nation's capital is sure to be rocking tonight as the Capitals look to carry the momentum from their 4-1 win over the Rangers on Wednesday night into this game and get back into the playoff picture.
Meanwhile the Sabres struggles continue as pucks just didn't bounce their way against the New Jersey Devils in a 3-1 loss on Wednesday. Thomas Vanek continues to be a powerhouse of offense for the Sabres as he hopes to continue his 6-game point streak with 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points. Derek Roy leads the team in points against the Capitals with 24 points in 26 games. When Roy is able to record a point in a game this year, the Buffalo is 12-2-3, but they will need the entire roster to contribute to the scoresheet tonight if they want to beat Alex Ovechkin and a Capitals team that are finally starting to play up to expectations.
Ryan Miller is expected to be in net tonight as he tries to get another step closer to the franchise record for wins. He currently needs 5 more as he chases Dominik Hasek for sole possession of the goaltender milestone. It has already been announced that Thomas Vokoun will be the starting goaltender for the Caps. He is currently 13-8-0 this season with a 2.67 GAA.
The Sabres are in for a tough one tonight and will be a real gut check. If they can get some goals early, they may have a shot of beating the Capitals 3 games in a row. It won't be easy though with Washington ranked 11th in goals allowed at home and a penalty kill that hasn't allowed a power-play goal in 7 games at home.
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