Game #7: Minnesota Wild vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Monday October 27, 2008 at 7pm (CDT), Xcel Energy Center

Minnesota Wild (5-0-1) 11pts 1st in Northwest Division3.17 Goals per Game (10th in)2.00 Goals Against per Game (3rd in)25.0% Power Play (3rd in)100% Penalty Kill (1st in)Top 5 Scorers:1. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 1G 9A = 10pts2. #20 Antti Miettinen ~ 5G 2A = 7pts3. #15 Andrew Brunette ~ 2G 3A = 5pts4. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard ~ 1G 3A = 4pts5. #25 Eric Belanger ~ 2G 1A = 3ptsTop 3 Penalty Minutes:1. #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 9PIM2. #51 James Sheppard ~ 6PIM3. #8 Brent Burns ~ 6PIMGoaltenders:1. #32 Niklas Backstrom ~ (5-0-1) 1.97GAA .930SV%2. #29 Josh Harding ~ (0-0-0)vsChicago Blackhawks (3-2-3) 9pts 3rd in Central Division3.12 Goals per Game (14th in)2.62 Goals Against per Game (9th in)18.4% Power Play (12th in)87.7% Penalty Kill (6th in)Top 5 Scorers:1. #10 Patrick Sharpe ~ 5G 6A = 11pts2. #88 Patrick Kane ~ 5G 4A = 9pts3. #24 Martin Havlat ~ 3G 5A = 8pts4. #32 Kris Versteeg ~ 2G 6A = 8pts5. #51 Brian Campbell ~ 2G 3A = 5ptsTop 3 Penalty Minutes:1. #37 Adam Burish ~ 25PIM2. #55 Ben Eager ~ 15PIM3. #7 Brent Seabrook~ 14PIMGoaltenders:1. #39 Nikolai Khabibulin ~ (2-1-2) 2.53GAA .919SV%2. #38 Cristobal Huet ~ (1-1-1) 2.61GAA .907SV%For the mental sanity of all Wild fans, it would be nice if the Wild would come out and play like their very lives depended on it. For the most part, they've started out strong, but there have been some minor dips in this year's road to success. The first dip came with the injury bug, however the remaining healthy players found a way to overcome the hardship. Then came the overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres, a game in all reality should have never gone to overtime. They managed to overcome that loss by a win, albeit a controversial one, over the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, even in that win the Wild once again took the fans and coaching staff on an foolhardy roller coaster ride. The ultimate key to tonight's game is to not let the opposition back late in the game. I know it's an obvious key, however it has come into play with the past two games. Against Buffalo, late third period goals ultimately came back to haunt the Wild. The same fate almost felled the Wild yet again, however thanks to that overturned controversial goal, the Wild managed to eek out a win. One really has to wonder what it is with controversial goals when playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. I have to wonder which goal sticks in the craw more with Blue Jackets fans, the disallowed one on Saturday or the infamous goal up Wes Walz's breezers. I do however value my personal safety, so I best not conduct that particular poll.Once again, the Wild will find themselves up against a closely matched opponent in the Chicago Blackhawks. The Wild pride themselves in not being the Wild of old. While they pat themselves on the back, they need to remember that they're not the only team who has improved. These are not the Blackhawks of two or three seasons ago. The Blackhawks just missed the playoffs last season, and they're looking to build on that success. One could argue that they have the pieces to do just that. The 'Hawks have a young team built for the future with players like Patrick Sharpe, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews. If the Blackhawks front office can find a way to keep their young stars as well as bring in those key vets, they will definitely be a forced to be reckoned with. The league is undergoing a much needed youth movement, and it's exciting to watch.If the Wild can continue to play the game they've been playing, minus the third period hiccups, they should come out on top. The fans want and deserve an exciting game, but not at the expense of making the mistakes that either cost or almost cost the victory. Even head coach Jacques Lemaire commented on this form of unwanted excitement. All everyone wants, is a true, honest to goodness win. No calls to Toronto. No overtime. No shootout. Simple hockey, simple win. Anything beyond that, and there could be an increase in voluntary commitments. All I know, is I need to take up yoga again. It might be the only thing to get me through this possible roller coaster season. Source

Ugh

Here's the truth about me, Heather B. As far as rivals go, I really like the Ottawa Senators. I love Dany Heatley, Anton Volchenkov and Mike Fisher and even though I held a grudge for quite a while after his blatant boarding of Henrik Tallinder, I even like Daniel Alfredsson again. Oh, sure there are Senators I hate - Chris Neil for obvious reasons, Jason Spezza for reasons unknown even to me - but I'm pretty okay with most of them. I've also never met a Senators fan I didn't like. Anytime I've seen the Senators play at HSBC their fans have been friendly and good-natured. At the draft we sat next to an Ottawa fan who spent almost all of the first round trying to tell Pookie and Schnookie that Brian Gionta is really good and the Devils aren't all that bad and he refused to give up even though they could not be convinced. In a league that is increasingly defensive, the Sabres and Senators usually still have very offense-driven, wide open games. I think they're fun.That established, I've been getting a huge kick out of Ottawa continuing their struggles from the second half of last season and I was super excited about them coming to Buffalo while we were playing so much better than them. I hate losing to them. This was... not the game I anticipated.In some ways I guess it was bound to happen. Once again the Sabres had gotten a little comfortable with playing off and on in the first forty minutes and turning it on in the last twenty and tonight it finally bit them in the ass because they put themselves in a five goal hole instead of a two goal hole. They were just on a road trip that involved traveling across time zones and getting back in town early, early, early yesterday morning. I think they also might have finally hit the wall as far as injuries go. A couple of seasons ago we lost a lot of bodies at one time and adrenaline and energy carried the day for a period of time before missing so many starters finally caught up with them and they started to struggle. The Sabres are currently without three centers and two defensemen which is certainly enough to make a difference most nights. And then ... well... some nights just stink. Over the course of 82 games it happens. There's also the inexplicable fact that Alex Auld is some kind of Sabres killer. Seriously, I feel like we've never, ever beat that guy. Mark and I both groaned when we saw he was starting in net tonight.But still. Did it have to be Ottawa?The thing I find the most annoying is that while the Senators certainly outplayed us, they didn't look that good. We set the bar pretty low. Three of their goals came directly off horrible turnovers and while yes, good for them for capitalizing on those turnovers generally we do a better job of not clearing the puck softly in front of our own goalie, Jaro. No hustle, no fight, no passion. Once the score was 5-0 Mark changed the channel which rarely happens in our house. Hopefully this will be a reminder that winning in the requires a sixty minute effort even against teams that are struggling. This was the first real clunker of the season so I'm not going to read too much into things yet.A few other quick hits:I think the penalty on Maxim Afinogenov was questionable since he appeared to already be in the wind-up of his shot when the whistle was blown but it's ridiculous that he got a call while Jason Smith got nothing for manhandling him to the ice. I totally understand what Smith was doing but come on. I'm also still not sure why Mike Weber got a penalty for checking the puck carrier.I know it drives some people crazy when Rob Ray refers to the Sabres as "we" - we need to show more hustle, we're not winning the battles - but it doesn't bother me. I think it's cute. A little unprofessional maybe but cute.Speaking of Rob, over on Sabres Edge tonight John Vogl mentioned the classic game that was being shown on the jumbotron and around the arena before the game and included a clip. This same game was shown before a Senators game that Mark and I attended last year and while it's a fun game - it features a baby-faced Jay McKee in his very first game - I'm pretty sure it's bad luck. The Ottawa game it showed before last season was the one toward the end of the year where we gave up an 18 goal lead in the last 75 seconds. And then of course it showed before tonight's Ottawa game. I think it's time to retire that particular 1996 game from rotation. Before we retire it however here's an awesome clip from it. I love Rob, helmet shoved down over his eyes, big grin on his face, high-fiving the goalie as he leaves the ice. And those are some serious punches he's throwing. I love, love, love the commercial for Roswell (I think - it's some kind of cancer center) with Teppo Numminen. I love that they shoved "TEPPO NUMMINEN" on the front of his jersey even though it goes from one armpit to the other like we wouldn't know who he was if it just said "TEPPO." How many Teppos does Roswell think there are in WNY?The intermission "interview" with Tom Golisano and Gary Bettman was embarrassing. I realize Bettman was in town for the announcement about the World Junior tournament and that his appearance during the broadcast was a big PR thing but we were basically treated to five minutes of Tom and Gary seeing who could kiss the other's ass more. It was a total waste of time and I actually felt a little bad for Mike Robitaille.Before tonight the Sabres penalty kill only allowed two power play goals in 34 opportunities. Tonight alone they allowed two more. I'm pretty sure that means the entire Buffalo penalty kill revolves around Henrik Tallinder.Source

One More Time

The Minnesota Wild took another win last night at the Xcel Energy Center when they played the Chicago Blackhawks. Which means that our boys on the Minnesota Wild roster are still (technically) undefeated. Stop screaming at your screen. I know we lost to the Buffalo Sabres last week. But.it.wasn't.in.regulation. So technically it doesn't count. I don't know about these technicalities. In my book, a loss is a loss, whether it occurs in regulation play or overtime. And you can't win 'em all, right? Right. But, that's the way the rules work in the. So again, we're technically undefeated.And despite our 6-0-1 status, Minnesota Wild tickets are still priced pretty darn moderately around the web. I'm pretty impressed. Especially since my Wild ticket budget has dramatically decreased since last year!This (freezing cold) weather is really hard to adapt to. It was 24 degrees when I took my dogs outside this morning. 27 degrees. In October. Brrrrrrr....makes me want to be here: I am just going to sit here for a minute with visions of sunshine and margaritas dancing in my head (in lieu of sugarplums).Ok, onto more important things. Like the all-important Minnesota Wild vs. Montreal Canadiens game impending on Thursday Evening. Koivu vs. Koivu. Be there or be square. And the even bigger question: will Minnesota Wild fans see superstar Marian Gaborik on the ice for this game? Only time will tell. And speaking of Marian Gaborik...here's a question that's been on my mind for a while. If he gets traded...which there is a very high possiblity of...what of all the Gaborik jerseys floating around at Minnesota Wild fan homes? Would you still wear your Gabby jersey? Or invest in a new one? And if you'd be investing in a new jersey...whose number/name would you want? Inquiring minds (well, mainly my own) want to know.Ok, that's all the tough questions I need answered for now.Much love for all of your responses!CK Source

The NHL Confuses Me

Okay, here's one thing I don't get about the:Walking down the hallway and screaming and swearing at opponent = $2,500 fineMajor boarding penalty = $100 fineNeither fine is particularly damaging to these guys' wallets and I am in no way endorsing Adam Mair's actions - he totally lost control of himself - but seriously, which one of the above infractions is potentially more damaging to the opposing player? I'm sure these guys swear at each other for 60 plus minutes. The only difference here is that Mair was screaming at players in street clothes.I am the first person to criticize Fox's baseball coverage. I think it's consistently awful. But they did a really cool thing tonight after the Series clinching strike out. They replayed that last strike over and over, each time with the camera focused on a different Philadelphia player. First they replayed it with the focus on Brad Lidge, then they replayed it with the focus on Ryan Howard and they went around the field, into the dugout and even up in the owner's box. No musical cues, no commentary from the talking heads, just the sound of the crowd and the players celebrating over and over. It was really neat to see everyone's different immediate reactions. Mark and I decided when the Sabres win the Stanley Cup we want to see this although it is admittedly easier to do with baseball where all the players are in stationary positions waiting for the pitch.Congratulations, Philadelphia! I guess.Source

WHL News

All right is some WHL news for once. I am not going to lie I am East coast biased but it doesn't mean I don't follow the league.The biggest story this week in the Dub has been the sale of the Portland Winterhawks to Bill Gallacher. He met with fans, sponsors and corporate partners, staff and players at Wednesday's reception at Buffalo Wild Wings in downtown Portland. He had this to say:“The Portland Winter Hawks organization has demonstrated its ability to fill Memorial Coliseum, inspire fans and the City of Portland with a spirit of civic pride, and to win the Memorial Cup,” said Gallacher. “Our plan for the future is to do just that once again.” He has four objectives: 1) developing a championship-caliber team capable of winning the Memorial Cup, 2) restoring the organization to profitability through strategic sponsorships and offering customers a top-notch entertainment product, 3) building community partnerships, and 4) renewing a spirit of excitement and hometown pride in the Portland Winter Hawks.He also named a new General Manager and Coach. Mike Johnston will be filling both positions. His assistant will be Travis Green who spent 15 years in the with the New York Islanders, Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes, Boston Bruins, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also played for the Spokane Chiefs and the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL.The Portland Tribune has a story on the transfer of ownership. It's good to see this franchise getting a fresh start. I know they had some issues last year.The Kelowna Rockets found out Tuesday that Luke Schenn will not be going back to juniors. The Toronto Maple Leafs will be keeping him the. So far this season he has no points in nine games but has 15 penalty minutes. He also has a -4.A couple of trades have gone down this week. The Tri-City Americans have traded for 19-year-old defenseman Scott Maetche from the Calgary Hitmen in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft. The Chilliwack Bruins have made a trade for 18-year old defenceman Alexander Grill-Donovan from the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for a conditional 6th round pick in the 2010 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants was featured on TSN recently. The Giants also gave Milan Lucic a new 2007 Memorial Cup Championship ring on Tuesday after his orginal was stolen this summer at his parents' house. I have a love-hate relationship with Lucic. I despise him for that Memorial Cup but I have a man crush on him as a Bruin. Here's the Hit of the Year so far: That's My Take(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)Source

Game #9: Minnesota Wild vs. Montreal Canadiens, Thursday October 30, 2008 at 7pm (CDT), Xcel Energy Center (GAME PREVIEW)

Minnesota Wild (6-1-1) 13pts 1st in Northwest Division3.00 Goals per Game (10th in)2.25 Goals Against per Game (4th in)27.8% Power Play (3rd in)96.3% Penalty Kill (1st in)Top 5 Scorers:1. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 1G 12A = 13pts2. #20 Antti Mietinen ~ 6G 4A = 10pts3. #15 Andrew Brunette ~ 4G 4A = 8pts4. #5 Kim Johnsson ~ 1G 4A = 5pts5. #25 Eric Belanger ~ 2G 2A = 4ptsTop 3 Penalty Killers:1. #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 9 PIM's2. #8 Brent Burns ~ 8 PIM's3. #47 Marc-Andre Bergeron ~ 8 PIM'sGoaltenders:1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (6-1-1) 2.29GAA .923%SP2. #29 Josh Harding (0-0-0) 1.54GAA .950%SPvsMontreal Canadiens (6-1-1) 13pts 2nd in Northeast Division3.50 Goals per Game (3rd in)2.25 Goals Against per Game (5th in)17.1% Power Play (17th in)81.1% Penalty Kill (14th in)Top 5 Scorers:1. #11 Saku Koivu - 4G 6A = 10pts2. #79 Andrei Markov - 0G 10A = 10pts3. #13 Alex Tanguay - 6G 3A = 9pts4. #27 Alexei Kovalev - 3G 3A = 6pts5. #84 Guilliaume Latendresse - 1G 5A = 6ptsTop 3 Penalty Minutes:1. #8 Mike Komisarek - 18 PIM's2. #17 Georges Laraques - 14 PIM's3. #6 Tim Kostopoulos - 12 PIM'sGoaltenders:1. #31 Carey Price (4-1-1) 2.06GAA .932%SP2. #41 Jaroslav Halak (0-0-0) 2.52GAA .918%SPThankfully, last night is over and done with. I'm glad that it came when it did. I get nervous when it feels like the Wild are playing based on what their numbers say, meaning that it gives them a feeling of having this security blanket that no one can take away from them. Well, that security blanket is gone, and it's time to get back to work.In the past, a game against Montreal was simply a pride game for Wild coaches Jacques Lemaire and Mario Tremblay. It's gotten to be an unwritten rule that no matter what you come out to play when you play the Canadiens. It seems that once you don the trois couleurs of Montreal you are fair game in the Montreal press. Lemaire & Co. don't care to be questioned about the failure of their team by their "hometown" papers.The Minnesota-Montreal matchup has taken a new turn in recent years. Now the question is not of Canadiens past versus Canadiens now. Now the question is which Koivu. In Montreal, you have the long-time captain of Saku Koivu. As one would expect, Saku is Montreal's point leader. In Minnesota, we have watched the amazing development of Mikko Koivu. Many skeptics in Minnesota wondered if when he was drafted he was simply drafted for the Koivu name. Thankfully, we have found that the younger Koivu is strong player, who still has a lot of growth ahead of him. The icing on the cake for tonight's game, is that since Mikko is the captain for the month of October, not only will it be Koivu vs Koivu, but it will be Captain Koivu vs Captain Koivu. Hopefully that adds another level of intensity for the Wild to notch another win.Now that the Wild have been brought back to Planet Earth, it would be best that the Wild go back to what works. Solid play in both ends, outstanding goaltending, and team play. It won't be easy, because the Canadiens can do just that as well. It is very important that the Wild find ways to score, especially at even strength. They simply cannot depend on power play goals to win. While it's nice to know that they can score on the power play, a true team shows what it can do 5 on 5. Now that their penalty kill has been cracked, it will continue to be cracked, but hopefully not on a regular basis.The Wild bounced back from the Buffalo loss. Now they need to pick themselves up by the bootstraps after last night's loss in Dallas. The Wild will show us their true colors with the outcome of tonight's game. I know I prefer a smooth landing. Source

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Sabres, November 1st

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!We are live here at Peerless Central with the last prognostication you’ll ever need on tonight’s tilt between the Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres at Home of the Sabres Bitching Center Arena. To look at some Buffalo sites, you’d think the Sabres were the bottom feeders of the…“Pominville, Roy off to Slow Starts” -- Buffalo News (online) headline“Ruff Barks after team plays without bite.”-- Another Buffalo News (online) headline“Ruff Shakes Things Up in Depth Chart”-- Sabres.com“It seems like when we get home we try to make that extra play, try to make it a little too cute and it ends up costing us.”-- Jason Pominville, in Sabres Notebook (Sabres.com)"[The Lightning] won more battles. That’s all it comes down to. They won more battles and I’m not going to make any excuses. They were the better team, they won the battles they skated better and they were a lot better with the puck and that showed. They made a lot better plays."-- Lindy Ruff, after a loss to the Lightning Thursday night“Music to my ears…”Well, if it isn’t Cheerless…hey cousin, I haven’t seen you since…“Yeah, since you had us do those infernal previews. Where’s that beer you promised?Uh, it’s in the mail. What are you doing here?“You know me…’Cheerless’ an ‘ all that. Well, what more cheerless place is there than Buffalo?”What do you mean, cuz?“I was reading that Buffalo.com site?...and whaddya think they’re talking about on their ‘Let’s Talk’ column?...”Take a deep breath, or time to panic? Everything seemed so nice a few weeks ago. As recently as Oct. 23, the Buffalo Bills were 5-1 and memories of the Arizona massacre were already dim thanks to a nice performance against the stumbling San Diego Chargers, and the Sabres were 6-0-1 after a miraculous win in Minnesota. Since that fateful Thursday, however, our hometown teams have combined for zero wins and 4 losses - including embarrassing missteps to the Miami Dolphins and Ottawa Senators, two of local sports fans' most hated rivals.”“Makes me look like Polly Sunshine, don’t it?”I see your point…but let’s focus, shall we, on the Sabres, who did start 6-0-1, but who are 0-2-1 in their three games to close out the month of October. Overall, where to the contestants rank?...First, we put those hits up there as an indicator that this isn’t likely to be a rock ‘em-sock ‘em sort of game. There is likely to be an up and down aspect to it that could be of advantage to the Caps, since their shot differential (5.4 shots-per-game to the good) is much greater than is Buffalo’s (-0.3 shots-per-game). Add that to the disparity in faceoffs won, and you would think one thing to look for is how well the Caps can tilt the rink toward Ryan Miller and the Sabres’ defense.Apart from that, there is the matter of whose will can be imposed on the other. The Caps would like to make this a 5-on-5 game. Their goals for/goals against ratio at five-on-five is markedly better than is Buffalo’s. On the other hand, Buffalo clearly has the better special teams play, both when having a man advantage and when down a man.The battle of wills also extends to who scores first. If the Sabres do, they usually win. If the Caps allow that first goal, they usually…win. The thing is, though, there is perhaps no more reliable indicator of which team will win an game than looking at who scores first. 27 teams have a winning percentage of .500 or better when getting the first goal. Washington, it is worth noting, is one of the three teams not in that group.Individually, a discussion of the Sabres might start with Thomas Vanek. The $50 million man (over seven years, as the Sabres matched an offer tendered by Edmonton last year) had something of a slump last year in the first year of his big contract. He dropped off by seven goals, 13 assists, and 20 points in finishing 36-28-64. The biggest drop of all was in his plus-minus number. After leading the league in that figure with a +47 in 2006-2007, he dropped off to a -5 last year that had him ahead of only Dmitri Kalinin and Maxim Afinogenov on his own team. It suggested that perhaps he was less his own talent and perhaps more of who he was surrounded by in 2006-2007 (Daniel Briere and Chris Drury having left Buffalo last year in free agency).Well, Vanek has come back with a vengeance. He leads the Sabres in goals (1st in the), points (T-10th in the), power play goals (T-4th), and shorthanded goals (T-1st). He has not been extraordinarily successful (3-5-8, +6 in 12 career games) against the Caps. He was held without a point in three games against Washington last year…but he was 2-3-5 in four games in 2006-2007.On the other side is Derek Roy. Perhaps no other player emerged from under the shadow of the departed Briere and Drury for the Sabres last year than did Roy. He improved his scoring from 21-42-63 in 2006-2007 to a 32-49-81 mark last year, getting an additional 2:31 of ice time a night. This year, Roy is leading all Sabre forwards in ice time per game (2:32 more than last year and more than five minutes more than two seasons ago), but he’s struggled. His 1-4-5 is good for only seventh in scoring on the team; his only goal an overtime game winner against Minnesota.At the other end of the ice, the Sabres are characterized by a balanced, mobile blue line. There is no real big hitter there, no top scorer, and none of the group emerges when there is a discussion of best-in-the candidates. But Jaroslav Spacek, Teppo Numminen, Tony Lydman, and Henrik Tallinder are all solid two way players. To that group was added Craig Rivet, presumably as a defensive anchor. However, Rivet had arthroscopic knee surgery recently and is out for this one.The other addition is intriguing. Andrej Sekera, who played in 37 games as a rookie with the Sabres last year, leads the Sabres in ice time this year. The trouble, perhaps, for the Sabres, is that in doing so, he’s been a minus player in six of his ten games and five of his last six. Not to say he’s the cause of such a result, but he’s been in the vicinity. One would think that if Rivet was in the lineup, Sekera would not be getting that amount of work (averaging almost 27 minutes a game since Rivet went out).The last line of defense for the Sabres is goalie Ryan Miller. Miller is staking an early claim to be considered among the league’s top goalies. He is fourth in the league in goals against (2.07), tied for sixth in save percentage (.928), and brings a record of 5-1-1 into this game. He did, however, lay an egg in allowing five goals on the first 30 shots he faced in a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday. His numbers against Washington are not as bright – 2.75 GAA and .900 save percentage, but he does have a 7-2-0 record in ten career appearances against Washington.The Peerless’ Players to PonderBuffalo: Maxim AfinogenovThe 29-year old forward has yet to score a goal this year (0-7-7). One might think this a slump, but his goal scoring dropped off from 23 (in 56 games) in 2006-2007 to ten (in 56 games) last year. He has one goal in his last 25 regular season games (1-12-13, -9). But, he is 8-10-18, +1 in 27 career games against the Caps. Which Afinogenov shows up tonight will likely be an important factor in whether the Sabres can break their losing streak.Washington: Brooks LaichLaich is likely to open on the left side of the top line, replacing Alex Ovechkin. Although Laich has only a single goal in his last seven games, his importance here might not be in scoring as much as it will be doing the dirty work to get the puck to Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov. If he can pick up the garbage in front, all the better. Given that Buffalo doesn’t, as a rule, have an especially physical defense, he might get opportunities in that area.The Caps haven’t yet righted the ship after losing the first two games of the western road swing – their two wins have been shaky, to say the least. But they’ve found a way to scratch out extra points in both in extra time. That seems to be the formula for the moment, and in a hostile place that has been unkind to them lately (the Caps are 3-7 over the last five seasons in Buffalo), they’ll have to have their sandpaper out to scrape one out.Caps 3 – Sabres 2Source