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— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) December 31, 2015Thirteen Eastern Conference clubs can tip their bucket to the Buffalo Sabres for delivering physicality to the conference leading Washington Capitals.
The East is a highly competitive fight right now. Points are very hard to come by and teams need as much help as they can get against the high flying Caps.
The Caps are leading the NHL in points right now and may be without the services of some of their key soldiers.
Dan Bylsma's Pittsburgh Penguins used to have epic clashed with the Capitals. Bylsma knows how to play Ovechkin, Backstrom and their gratuitous offensive juggernaut.
Bylsma's Sabres took a page from the Penguins' manual on how to slow down and compete with the Caps. Buffalo took away their time and space and played a physical brand of hockey for 60 minutes.
The Caps sustained injuries to four key players in the two game set with the Sabres this week.
The most serious injury is to energy forward Jay Beagle who sustained an upper body injury in Wednesday night's second period that will require surgery to repair it. Beagle left the game and didn't return. He will be a big loss for the Caps.
Nick Backstrom played two periods of hockey on Wednesday night however couldn't play in the third period due to an upper body ailment. Backstrom’s injury is not believed to be serious and he may be able to play on New Years Eve against the Carolina.
Backstrom will be evaluated further on Thursday.
Energy man Michael Latta was injured in a fight with Nic Deslauriers on Monday night.
Defenseman John Carlson missed both games with Buffalo after injuring himself at Monday's game day skate. He will miss a few games according to Barry Trotz.
Caps have placed Beagle on IR. Carlson will be out for a while. Backstrom still being evaluated.
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) December 31, 2015Washington entered Wednesday’s game without defensemen Brooks Orpik and John Carlson and center Michael Latta. The Caps recalled center Zach Sill from AHL Hershey on Tuesday, and he filled in for Latta in Wednesday’s game. With Beagle on the sidelines, Sill will remain with the Caps. The Caps called up D-man Aaron Ness from AHL Hershey on Thursday morning.
“We’re hoping that Backy will be back in [Thursday],… says Caps coach Barry Trotz told the Caps website . “And Latta will be back in [Thursday]. And we’ll keep Zach with us, and we’ll just go forward there.
“John Carlson will not be traveling with us and Beagle will probably end up on [injured reserve].…
Carlson’s streak of 412 consecutive games played came to an end when he missed Monday’s game against the Sabres in Buffalo with a lower body injury.
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Cautionary tale:
Never, and I mean EVER, turn your back on Alex Ovechkin when you have a puck on your stick. Ovi is a brahma bull and he will gore you.
On Wednesday night, Ovechkin channeled his inner Eric Lindros and hurt the Buffalo Sabres by scoring two goals. He also sent a top six forward to the garage for repairs after a nasty collision.
Just another night at the rink for Ovechkin.
Sabres forward Tyler Ennis had only been back from injury for three games before he was re-injured in a collision with Alex Ovechkin on Wednesday night in Washington's 5-2 win over Buffalo.
Ovechkin ended Ennis' night at the 9:20 mark of the first period.
Ennis missed 12 games in November and December after he was crunched by St. Louis D-man Robert Bortuzzo. Ennis was diagnosed with an upper body injury.
It appears to me that Ennis right shoulder/upper body was the problem area.
Dan Bylsma would not comment on the Ennis injury after the loss on Wednesday night.
I suspect that Ennis has suffered a re-aggravation of the sane upper body injury that sidelined him for 12 games. Ennis sat out from November 24 until December 19 when he skated against the Chicago Blackhawks. He then took the one week holiday break and played on Boxing Day in Boston and at home versus Washington on Monday night. He played half of the first period in Washington on Wednesday.
Matt Moulson was a healthy scratch in Washington. He will draw back into the lineup versus the NY Islanders on Thursday night.
There will likely be a forward call up from Rochester.
Stay tuned.
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If you believed the pregame narrative that was created by the Washington media, the rematch between the Washington Capital sand Buffalo Sabres was supposed to feature brass knuckles, Molotov cocktails and gang warfare.
On Monday night, Sabres tough guy Nic Deslauriers wiped out Caps winger Justin Williams with a hard, direct, heavy body check. Caps' heavy Mike Latta challenged Deslauriers to a fight and promptly got his but kicked.
Long story short, there were no fights nor retribution in Wednesday night's game.
I, like Chuck D. and Public Enemy say:
"Don't believe the hype".
Alex Ovechkin didn't listen to the crap. He pulled on his work boots and went to work.
How did the media bury the lede?
Never sleep on Ovechkin.
Alex Ovechkin is a man on a mission.
The Great 8 scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season in Washington's 5-2 win over Buffalo on Wednesday night. Ovi's 494th carer NHL goal tied the game at 2-2 at the 1:24 mark of the third period. His 495th career goal was an empty netter that sealed the deal at 5-2 marking his second multi-goal game of the season and his 102nd career multi-goal game. Ovechkin registered 10 shots tonight, becoming the 19th player in NHL history to record 4,000 career shots. It marked the 42nd time in Ovechkin’s NHL career in which he registered 10 or more shots on goal in a game.
The Caps scored four goals in the third period to earn their ninth consecutive win.
Justin Williams, Marcus Johansson and Andre Burakovsky each had a goal, and Braden Holtby made 25 saves for Washington (28-6-2).
Brian Gionta and Zemgus Girgensons scored for the Sabres (15-18-4). Jack Eichel assisted on both Buffalo goal. Chad Johnson made 38 saves in the loss.
The Sabres hung tough for 40 minutes, however, penalty trouble and scrambly play killed the Sabres in the third period.
Marcus Johansson scored the game winner on the powerplay at the 8:32 mark of the third period. The Caps finished the game 1 for 3 on the PP. The Sabres were 0 for 4 on the PP. They were 0 for 3 on the PP on Monday night. Had they cashed in on their PP chances in their two games against the Caps they likely would have won one or both games against the top rated team in the NHL.
Washington’s 28-6-2 record marks the team’s best start (in terms of points and wins) in franchise history. In addition, Washington has earned a point in 17 of its last 18 games (11/21-12/30: 16-1-1).
The Capitals’ nine-game winning streak matches the longest winning streak in the NHL this season (NY Rangers and Montreal) and the team’s longest winning streak since 2010-11 (2/26/11-3/15/11: 9-0-0).
The Capitals are 15-3-1 at home this season and have won nine consecutive games at Verizon Center. Washington has outscored opponents 34-17 during that span.
Since the beginning of the 2008-09 season, the Capitals are 17-6-4 against the Sabres and have earned a point in 10 of their last 11 contests against Buffalo (8-1-2). In addition, Washington has posted a 9-2-1 record in its last 12 home games against the Sabres.
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The Sabres will host John Tavares and the NY Islanders on Thursday night. Its a 6pm EDT puck drop for "Tux and Pucks".
Former Islander Matt Moulson was a healthy scratch in Washington. He will likely play against JT and his former Islanders teammates because Tyler Ennis was injured in Washington when Alex Ovechkin flattened him with a heavy body check.
If I were Sabres GM Tim Murray I would recall Cal O'Reilly from Rochester as the extra forward insurance policy.
O'Reilly scored the shootout game winner against St. John's in First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
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Once upon a time, not that long ago, the Sabres were the 2nd rated power play unit in the NHL.
Since then they are in a free fall. The Buffalo PP is now 0 for its past 20 power play attempts.
Today, the Sabres power play is ranked #15 in the NHL and they are sliding down the mountain.
Buffalo are now 19.1% overall. They are 17.7% PP success rate at home and 20.8% PP success at home.
Both Buffalo PP units have struggled mightily at getting clean zone entries. They are not recovering pucks nor are they establishing consistent o-zone pressure. They are too easy to defend and are not getting pucks through to the opposing goalie.
I have a solution:
Tim Murray must make a trade for a left shot defenseman who can play top four minutes and man a point on the power play.
The LA Kings, St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jacks and Minnesota Wild have been scouting the Sabres for weeks.
The Kings have lefties Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez who could add immediate value to the Buffalo PP.
The Blues have lefty Jay Bouwmeester.
The Blue Jax have left-side D Jack Johnson.
The Wild have lefty Jonas Brodin.
Each team is looking for top nine forward scoring and depth.
I'll give you my takes on the quest for the elusive left shot D on Thursday.
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