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Gameday: Buffalo's Last Stand?

March 10, 2012, 3:39 PM ET [27 Comments]
Travis Yost
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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The Buffalo Sabres are on playoff life-support in the Eastern Conference race, and will have to get through a streaking Ottawa Senators team at Scotiabank Place in the sixth and final game of the season series to keep their hopes alive.

Not only will Buffalo have to pick up a pair of regulation points on the road against a team they're chasing in the standings, they may have to do it without one of their most integral scorers in Thomas Vanek(23G/27A). Vanek's being listed as a gametime decision after Johnny Boychuk laid into him on Thursday night.

The only reprieve here for the Sabres? Ottawa might be significantly undermanned as well. Already down their starting goaltender in Craig Anderson, Ottawa may now be without Norris Trophy candidate Erik Karlsson, who is also dealing with an undisclosed injury. Karlsson's missed the team's last two practices and was beaten around in a physical game v. the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Even without their prized Swedish defenseman, you would have to imagine that Paul MacLean, et al. will push hard for a victory tonight. The Northeast division leading Boston Bruins were just beaten in regulation by the Washington Capitals, meaning an Ottawa victory of any variety tonight puts them again within a point of the lead. It's an incredible long-shot at this point, but it's imperative Ottawa keeps pushing upwards. At the very least, they could take over the likes of New Jersey, as the Devils remain just one point ahead of them in the standings.

Between the net tonight, it should come as no surprise that Lindy Ruff's turned to starting goaltender Ryan Miller in an absolute must-win. Miller's had a serious force field working in his favor of late, and his season splits - 23-18-5 record, .915 save percentage, and 2.58 GAA - have trended towards his career average. As a matter of fact, they're almost identical.

Ottawa will respond with Ben Bishop, who gets his third start with the Senators since the move at the trade deadline. Bishop was a bit shaky in his debut down in Tampa Bay, but looked rock-solid in a 25/26 save performance against the New York Rangers on home ice. Bishop will look for his second victory with the team on Saturday.

Because of the abundance of gametime decisions, it's pretty tough to peg where Lindy Ruff will go with his lineup. The previously-mentioned Thomas Vanek - along with Pat Kaleta - are gametime decisions, and as such, Marcus Foligno was been recalled on emergency basis.

The Ottawa Senators will roll with the same exact lineup as Thursday night, so long as Erik Karlsson can give it a go. If not, expect Matt Carkner to draw into the lineup.

Puck drops a shade past 7:00 PM ET on CBC. Can the Ottawa Senators provide a final nail for the Buffalo Sabres coffin? We'll find out in a little bit.

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Buffalo Sabres - unconfirmed
Vanek*-Roy-Pominville
Ennis-Hodgson-Stafford
Gerbe-Leino-Kaleta*
Ellis-Boyes-Tropp

Ehrhoff-Sulzer
Leopold-Myers
Weber-Regehr

Ottawa Senators - unconfirmed
Greening-Spezza-Michalek
Klinkhammer-Turris-Alfredsson
Daugavins-Smith-Condra
Foligno-O'Brien-Neil

Kuba-Karlsson*
Cowen-Gonchar
Phillips-Gilroy

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