GDT: #05 – Sabres at Caps – Sun Jan 27 – 3:00PM ET – TV: NHLN, MSG-B – Radio: WGR-AM

[Woodhouse]

GDT #05: SABRES (2-2-0) at CAPS (0-3-1) – SUN JAN 27 – 3:00PM ET – TV: NHLN, MSG-B – RADIO: WGR-AM

1.25 – Washington earns a point but falls in overtime in New Jersey, 3-2 (Katie Carrera – The Washington Post)

1.25 – Carolina finishes a sweep of Sabres (John Vogl – The Buffalo News)

1.26 – Anemic Sabres showcase little finish in loss to Hurricanes (Bill Hoppe – Olean Times Herald)

1.26 – Faceoffs continue to be a problem (Mike Harrington – The Buffalo News)

1.26 – Michal Neuvirth keeps Caps afloat against Devils (Katie Carrera – The Washington Post)

1.26 – Lackluster special teams, abundance of penalties troublesome for Caps (Katie Carrera – The Washington Post)

1.26 – Capitals host Sabres still seeking first win (Corey Masisak – NHL.com)

1.27 – Sabres’ Ruff regrets playing top prospect Grigorenko so little (Bill Hoppe – Olean Times Herald)

1.27 – Struggling Sabres trying to ‘get rid of the pond hockey’ mentality (Bill Hoppe – Olean Times Herald)

BUFFALO SABRES

Projected Lineup

42 Nathan Gerbe - 19 Cody Hodgson - 29 Jason Pominville ("C")
9 Steve Ott - 63 Tyler Ennis - 21 Drew Stafford ("A")
82 Marcus Foligno - 25 Mikhail Grigorenko - 55 Jochen Hecht
32 John Scott - 37 Matt Ellis - 36 Patrick Kaleta

24 Robyn Regehr - 57 Tyler Myers
10 Christian Ehrhoff - 52 Alexander Sulzer
3 Jordan Leopold - 44 Andrej Sekera

30 Ryan Miller
1 Jhonas Enroth

Lineup News & Notes

Ville Leino (hip) and Cody McCormick (finger) remain sidelined with injuries, while TJ Brennan, Matt Ellis and Mike
Weber were scratched in Friday's 3-1 loss to Carolina. Ryan Miller will start in goal today for Buffalo, while Matt Ellis
will dress as Thomas Vanek sits with a muscle strain.

Weekly Transactions

None.

According to the Stats

Buffalo were 3-1-0 versus Washington last season, with Ryan Miller playing three games and stopping 82 of 88 shots
against (2.02 GAA, .932 SV%). Jason Pominville, with three goals and one assist, and Thomas Vanek, with one goal
and three assists, were their leading scorers in the series.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Projected Lineup

8 Alex Ovechkin ("C") - 83 Jay Beagle - 15 Joey Crabb
17 Wojtek Wolski - 19 Nicklas Backstrom ("A") - 20 Troy Brouwer
25 Jason Chimera - 9 Mike Ribeiro - 42 Joel Ward
26 Matt Hendricks - 85 Mathieu Perreault - 16 Eric Fehr

27 Karl Alzner - 52 Mike Green ("A")
4 John Erskine - 74 John Carlson
55 Jeff Schultz - 36 Tomas Kundratek

30 Michal Neuvirth
70 Braden Holtby

Lineup News & Notes

Jack Hillen (UBI), Brooks Laich (groin) and Dmitry Orlov (UBI) remain sidelined with injuries, while Roman Hamrlik,
Mathieu Perreault and Tom Poti were scratched in Friday's 3-2 OTL to New Jersey. Michal Neuvirth will start in goal
today for Washington, while Marcus Johansson is scratched in favor of Perreault..

Weekly Transactions

Washington recalled defenseman Tomas Kundratek from AHL/Hershey last Monday.

According to the Stats

Washington were 1-3-0 in four games versus Buffalo last season, with Michal Neuvirth appearing twice and stopping
14 of 19 shots against (6.16 GAA, .737 SV%). Alex Ovechkin, with three goals, and Nicklas Backstrom, with one goal
and two assists, were their leading scorers in the series.

A/V CLUB

1.25 – Highlights of Buffalo's 3-1 loss to Carolina. <3:57>

1.25 – Lindy Ruff speaks with the media following Buffalo's 3-1 loss to Carolina. <4:19>

1.25 – Highlights of Washington's 3-2 OTL to New Jersey. <4:22>

1.26 – Lindy Ruff speaks with the media following practice. <6:54>

1.27 – Lindy Ruff speaks with the media following the morning skate. <3:03>


GAMEDAY CHAT

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GAMEDAY STREAMS

GameCenter Live (subscription required) – Atdhe – FirstRow – Wiziwig

[Woodhouse]

Rick Jeanneret has traveled to DC and will be on-air for this one.

***

Vanek (back) was given a rest day on Saturday, while Leino (hip) did not practice. Here were the shuffled lines:

Foligno-Hodgson-Pominville
Ott-Grigorenko-Stafford
Hecht-Ennis-Kaleta
Scott-Ellis-Gerbe/McCormick

Ville Leino is not practicing. All eight defensemen are present as are both goalies.

Link: http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/...les-lines.html

[TheyAreGoodScaryGood]

Seems like about the right time for the caps to win there first game

[TheSchoolMaster]

RJ is back baby!

Will Vanek be well enough to play tomorrow then if it was just a rest day?

[Stop Winnin]

The Caps are in free-fall mode, take away their will to play and ****ing win.

[ZZamboni]

Originally Posted by TheSchoolMaster

RJ is back baby!

Oh I just smiled so big it hurt my jaw muscles






Sabres bounce back after 2 losses

4-2 Sabres

One of Foligno, Ennis, or Sekera get a goal

[Guess What]

Either gonna win big or let the Caps walk on us.

[Taelin]

Finally, a game that I don't have to watch on PVR.

[couture23]

Defence has to show up, shut down Ovi just like all the other teams have done.

We better not let Washington get their first W.

[Layne Staley]

5-2 Caps

Vanek, Ott

[Guess What]

Originally Posted by Layne Staley

5-2 Caps

Vanek, Ott

Didn't know Enroth was in

[TheSchoolMaster]

Originally Posted by couture23

Defence has to show up, shut down Ovi just like all the other teams have done.

We better not let Washington get their first W.

Especially after letting Carolina get their first two

[Afino]

Oh wonderful, road game at Washington. Surprised they didn't schedule this one near a holiday to keep the Sabres fans out again....

Please don't lose.

Buffalo go.

[Taro Tsujimoto]

Calgary just won, so that means the only winless team left is none other than... the Caps.

Don't let 'em get that first win, boys!

[SublimeNightmare]

Caps win it. Hopefully the Sabres can at least get a point.

[Imlach a cup]

Lifeless, uninspired, and mediocre. Despite that Miller keeps it close and the top line does enough to make up for the other losers in white. 3-1 Buf with an en at the end.

[Grahn]

First period/goal will be very important against a streaky team like washington in a slump

[jBuds]

Originally Posted by SublimeNightmare

Caps win it. Hopefully the Sabres can at least get a point.

My thoughts as well. I've seen this in Buffalo sports before: the remedy for a struggling club? A matchup against Buffalo.

3-1 Caps

Baxtrum, Ribairoe, Voalsquie (ENG)

Phahmynvel

[Bucky Gleason]

Ugh loss

[Moskau]

I could see a Buffalo blowout win that forces the Caps to blow their team up much the way we did to Philadelphia.

[Duddy]

Win

Whole team shows up, Grigs with his first after stripping ovechkin off the puck.

[Hasek]

I'm going to stay up to watch this one, despite having to wake up at 5. They better make it worth it.

5-2 Sabres (Grigorenko, Myers, Sekera, Kaleta, Hodgson)

[jayintro86]

Did anyone else see the article on WGR about Ruff saying that he might sit Grigorenko today?

http://wgr550.com/Vanek-Sits-Out-Pra...renko/15374927

Mikhail Grigorenko only played 6:48 against Carolina on Friday night. Ruff regretted letting the rookie jump off the bench

“I got to a point where he hadn’t played for so long and I didn’t think that it was fair to throw him in a tough situation,” Ruff said. “I burnt up a game is what I did.”

Ruff said it is possible that Grigorenko will sit against Washington. However, the Sabres’ coach said he has liked the rookie’s game.

“I like where this kid is going,” he said. “I like where his game has been. Even his early shifts were good shifts. They had the making of doing something good.”

[Zip15]

Washington played a good 3rd period the other night, rallying from down 2-0 to take the Devils to OT before losing there. I think they'll carry some momentum into today and beat the Sabres, 4-2.

Pominville
Kaleta

Ovechkin
Backstrom
Brouwer
Hendricks (EN)

Didn't Ehrhoff get hurt twice vs Washington last season? Both times in Washington, IIRC.

[A Storm of Swords]

Thank god RJ is back.