The Washington Capitals are presently ranked second in the East with 50 points, three more than the third place Sabres.
Gabby Boudreau and Lindy Ruff are universally regarded by their peers as forward thinking head coaches who inspire their players to give the max out effort every time they enter the rink, be it for practice or games.
These two gifted squads have arrived at this place, near the summit of the NHL's Kilamanjaro, however, they have taken uniquely different paths. Gabby's Gang, led by the grotesquely talented Alex Ovechkin, win track meets with their Harlem Globetrotters-inspired offense. Lindy's Laddies rely on the witchcraft of Ryan Miller, and balanced scoring from all four lines and the D.
The Caps, like the 06/07 vintage of the Sabres, outscore their opponents with a vulgar display of power. Gabby wants one more puck at the end of the night than the other team. Lindy, on the other hand, had his heart broken by losing two consecutive ECFs while playing swashbuckling river hockey. Ruff now demands his team to create offense from its stifling team defense. Ruff has stolen a page from Mike Babcock's Detroit template. The Sabres make the other team blink first and they generate offense from turnovers and mistakes. ryan Miller is the Venus Flytrap that covers up Buffalo's mistakes, and he's been out of this world thus far.
Wednesday night's heavy weight bout pits the fire wagon, high flying Caps against the so-tight-they-squeak Sabres. Styles define the great heavyweight fights.
The Caps skate into Wednesday night boasting a sensational +30 goal differential. AO, Backstrom, Semin, and the Caps have scored an NHL best 130 goals this season. AO leads his team with 23; Semin and Fleishmann are next with 14 apiece; Backstrom 12; Laich 10; Varlamov, Theodore, and Neuvirth have allowed 100 red lights.
Conversely, the Sabres have scored 94 pucks. Only Vanek and MacArthur have hit the double digit plateau in goals. Each have ten goals apiece. Thankfully, Ryan Miller and Patty Lalime have denied enemy advances. The Sabres tenders rank #2 out of 30 NHL teams with a microscopic 76 goals against. 76! Only Chicago are better with 71 goals against.
Buffalo are +18 and they will provide stiff competition for Washington as they will aim to deny time and space on the gifted Washington forwards.
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Tyler Myers will play Wednesday night in Washington. He was given the day off from practice by his coach on Tuesday.
Count on Thomas Vanek drawing back in to the lineup. Kaleta will be evaluated after the game day skate.
Your neck would hurt too if you go backstabbed by AO and Ruutu.
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