Sabres at Capitals
Two teams struggling to stay in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference square off Sunday as the Washington Capitals host the Buffalo Sabres. Washington returns home after splitting a pair of away games but heads right back out for a four-game road trip that begins Tuesday in Pittsburgh. The Capitals edged the Southeast Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday to snap a three-game losing streak before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Boston Bruins two days later.
Buffalo is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at home to the Northeast Division-rival Ottawa Senators on Saturday. After squandering a two-goal, first-period lead, the Sabres forged a 3-3 tie in the third on Drew Stafford's second goal of the game. Kyle Turris netted his second tally during a power play in overtime, however, as Buffalo fell to 1-2-3 in its last six contests.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN
ABOUT THE SABRES (10-14-4): Left wing Ville Leino made his season debut Saturday and recorded an assist on defenseman Mike Weber's goal. Leino had been sidelined with a hip injury suffered during training camp. Patrick Kaleta is eligible to return to the lineup Sunday after serving the final contest of his five-game suspension for checking Brad Richards of the New York Rangers from behind on March 3. The rugged right wing has collected 46 penalty minutes but zero points in 18 games. Buffalo lost defenseman Andrej Sekera to an upper-body injury late in the third period Saturday. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (11-15-1): Superstar Alex Ovechkin was kept off the scoresheet Saturday for the fourth time in five games. Coincidentally or not, Washington has lost all four of those contests while scoring a total of four goals. The captain has tallied only twice in 10 games since recording a hat trick against the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 23. Defenseman Jack Hillen appeared in his first contest since suffering a shoulder injury in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hillen registered one shot on goal and blocked one.
OVERTIME
1. With his two-goal performance Saturday, Stafford matched the total he amassed in his first 27 games of the season.
2. Buffalo has won only one of its last seven visits to Washington.
3. The home team has won five of the last six games in the all-time series.
PREDICTION: Capitals 3, Sabres 2