Sabres at Capitals
THE STORY: The stakes cannot get much higher when the Washington Capitals host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday in a showdown for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The teams are deadlocked in eighth place with only six games remaining, but Washington holds the tiebreaker because it has a greater combined number of regulation and overtime wins. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller and Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin have been playing lights-out and were named the league’s second and third stars for last week.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (Sabres), CS Washington (Capitals)
ABOUT THE SABRES (37-29-10): Miller has guided Buffalo to four consecutive victories – his longest winning streak of the season – and allowed only two goals in three starts. His 18-3-5 stretch has helped the Sabres climb from last place into playoff contention. The 2009-10 Vezina Trophy winner is 9-1-2 in March and has lost in regulation only once in 17 starts (13-1-3). Rookie Marcus Foligno has added a huge spark to the offense with six goals and four assists in eight games since his recall from the minors.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (38-30-8): Much like Miller, Ovechkin has put his early season struggles behind him with a torrid stretch. He has scored in five consecutive games – a total of seven in that span – and has nine goals in the last seven games. Ovechkin is within four goals of reaching 40 for the sixth time in his career – an almost laughable notion after he netted only nine goals through one-third of the season. His 10 goals in March marked the 12th time he has double-digit tallies in a calendar month.
OVERTIME:
1. The Capitals have beaten the Sabres five straight times at home.
2. Buffalo has outscored the opposition 17-5 during its winning streak.
3. Ovechkin has 17 goals and 12 assists in 26 career games against Buffalo.