Washington, DC (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres may have broken their 14-year playoff drought before they even get on the ice in Washington to play the Capitals. The Detroit Red Wings have an afternoon game in New York against the Rangers and if they lose, Buffalo clinched its playoff spot.
If that doesn't happen, all the Sabres have to do is win.
This is Buffalo's first and only game in Washington this season. The two teams split in Buffalo with the Sabres winning in November 4-3 and losing in March 2-1. Lyon didn't play in either game and Lindy Ruff went away from his rotating goalies system after Lyon and two below average starts. On March 19 Lyon picked up a 23-save shutout in San Jose against the Sharks. He then gave up six in an overtime loss to the Ducks in Anaheim and had maybe his worst game of the season losing to the Wings giving up four goals on 19 shots. Luukkonen they played three straight games and was very good in all three.
Overall Lyon has been excellent with a 20-9-4 record and a 2.69 goals against and .910 save percentage. Earlier this season he won 10 straight road games which was one off of the NHL record. He's 10-0-1 in his last 11 road contests.
Buffalo has hit a mini skid recently going 2-2-2. That's just two wins in six games. If you go by points, they're still tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning and are two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the Eastern Conference lead. They're 100 points has them fourth overall in the NHL.
The Capitals are just trying to stay alive. Again I'll use points for this discussion. Washington is 12th in the East with 85 points. Four teams have 88 points which takes them from eighth through 11th in the east. The Capitals have won three out of four games. Surprisingly they gave up 19 goals in those four games.
Alex Ovechkin has five goals in his last four games. Overall he has 31 goals and 59 points in 76 games.
Logan Thompson has taken over the reigns in net. He's played nine straight games, 13 out of 14 and 16-of-18. He's 27-21-6 with a 2.53 goals against and .909 save percentage.
Join Brian Koziol and me for the pregame at 6:00 when you here from Lindy Ruff, assistant coach Seth Appert and Lyon.
Alex Lyon will be back in goal after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played three straight games.
