Caps 1, Sabres 0
No change in this one. Shots are 16-15 in favor of the Caps. Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller made two quality saves early in the period and has been – as expected – very good. Again no penalties called so someone is going in the box within the first 5 minutes of the third. Bruce Boudreau moved Tomas Fleischmann onto the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, whose had a fine night. That was just for the last shift of the period so we’ll see if that holds for the final period. I’ve counted at least three times tonight when Caps defenseman Brian Pothier has come back up ice to break up a Buffalo rush. He also had a sweet hip check to eliminate another one early in the second. Maybe his best game of the year even without any points? Semyon Varlamov has had a good night – though he’s faced fewer dangerous scoring chances than Miller. Caps have talked a lot about finding a way to close teams out in the third period. A 1-0 lead obviously isn’t insurmountable. But after the Ottawa debacle on Monday night it’s a good chance to put their words to the test right away. Next goal is critical.
