Caps Face Sabres
Caps start weekend set of back-to-backs on Friday night in Buffalo
The Capitals take a one-game excursion to Buffalo on Friday night to finish off their season's series with the Sabres and kick off a weekend set of back-to-back games. The Capitals will return home immediately afterwards, and they'll finish the back-to-backs on Saturday when they host the New Jersey Devils in the opener of a four-game homestand.
Washington comes into Friday's game on the heels of a subpar performance in Tuesday's 5-2 home ice loss to the St. Louis Blues. The Caps were uncharacteristically porous and lackluster defensively against the Blues, and they were limited to just eight shots on net and no goals in the final 40 minutes of the game. As they get ready to face the Sabres and start a stretch of three games in four nights - Carolina comes into Capital One Arena on Monday night - they'll be aiming to avoid a third straight regulation loss for just the second time this season.
They're also trying to move on from the St. Louis game as much as possible while taking the important lessons learned from that Tuesday night humbling.
"I'd say a combination of both," says Caps winger Garnet Hathaway. "There's not a lot of good to take from [Tuesday]. So it's about recognizing the bad, and recognizing what was in our control that was bad, and trying to figure out how our preparation going into that can make for a different outcome.
"It was definitely self-inflicted - a lot of it - but it's about being self-aware and taking a step back and looking at our own game versus the Blues. We don't play them for the rest of the year, so it doesn't matter what they specifically did to us individually, but what we gave up, and why we gave it up. We're worrying a lot more about our game right now. And that was the video session [Wednesday]. It was about, 'Where did we let ourselves down?'"
Tuesday's game was the Caps' fourth in a span of six nights, and they conducted a full practice the following day, and an optional practice on Thursday before departing for Buffalo. This marks the third straight week in which Washington must play a set of back-to-backs and play three times in four nights, and they're also cognizant of the fact that some of the playoff also-rans ahead on their schedule - like Buffalo and New Jersey - aren't to be taken lightly at this juncture of the season, with the trade deadline now in the rear view.
"In some ways it can be more challenging," says Caps defenseman Nick Jensen. "It's the games like Carolina that are easy to get up for; that's like a playoff-style game and you know that it's coming. But when you're facing a team that might not even be in the picture looking at the playoffs, it's kind of dangerous because you come thinking this game's in the bag already before you even step on the ice. And that's just the totally wrong attitude to have going into it.
"Guys on those teams are playing for spots and playing for positions next year if they're not it the playoffs. And if they are, then they're playing for that playoff spot. So being game ready for those games is super important. You can't just go in and think you're going to roll over teams like that, and we've seen that sometimes this year. We've got to go into every game trying to get up like it's a playoff game."
Washington doesn't face much in the way of back pressure in the standings. The Caps are sitting eighth among the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference, but only 10 points separates those eight teams. There figures to be some jockeying for position among those eight clubs as we head into the final month of the regular season, and the Caps are seeking to forge some upper mobility for themselves. As such, they can't afford to take any opponent lightly.
"We've got to be ready to play everybody," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Everything's dangerous this time of year. The teams that are looking like they might not make the playoffs, they become dangerous and carefree, playing for next year, playing loose. The teams that are on the bubble and on the cusp, they're dangerous because their life depends on it. And the teams that are in the upper echelon of the League are dangerous because they're in the upper echelon of the League. And so there is no going out and just having a good game or a fun game, and having it just roll easy. You've got to work for everything you get out there."
Even with the two consecutive losses, the Caps have had a strong month of March. They're 7-2-1 with three games remaining this month. And once they get through these last three games, they've got the rare luxury of a five-day break in the middle of a homestand. An originally scheduled road game in Nashville during this stretch was mercifully moved back to mid-February, during what was originally intended to be an Olympic break.
Like Washington, Buffalo has played excellent hockey in the month of March. The Sabres are 7-3-0 this month, and they've won five out of their last six and each of their last three games, taking two of them in overtime and one in the shootout.
The Sabres were relatively quiet at the trade deadline, making only a minor move in sending defenseman Robert Hagg to Florida for a sixth-round pick. But Buffalo made a big trade splash back in early November when it dealt Jack Eichel to Vegas, and the early returns on that swap have been good for the Sabres.
Winger - and Syracuse native - Alex Tuch has eight goals in 26 points in 32 games with Buffalo, and he is pulling down an average of 19:05 per night, easily the highest figure of his six-year NHL career. Rookie center Payton Krebs has six goals and 14 points in 39 games with the Sabres, and the 21-year-old put up a point per game in the AHL earlier this season before ascending to the Buffalo roster. In addition to Tuch and Krebs, the Sabres also obtained a first- and a second-round pick when they sent Eichel and a third-rounder to the Golden Knights.
