After missing out on their first opportunity to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Buffalo Sabres hope to be officially locked in by the end of Saturday night when they visit the Washington Capitals.
The Sabres (46-22-8, 100 points) had a chance to end their NHL-record 14-year postseason drought Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. All they needed was a win — in any fashion — but instead were dealt a 4-1 loss.
“Everyone is dying for points right now. Everyone needs them, including us,” forward Jason Zucker said. “Last I checked, we’re not in the playoffs yet. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We need to sure up a lot of what we’re doing. I don’t think we have any panic in our room, but we have some stuff that we need to have a little bit more urgency towards.”
After failing to take care of business on its own against Ottawa, Buffalo could find itself with that coveted “x” by its name in the standings before even hitting the ice against Washington. The Detroit Red Wings currently sit in the first spot below the cut line and will face the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon.
Any kind of loss by the Red Wings would seal it for the Sabres, who have the advantage in regulation wins in the event of a tiebreaker.
Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff shuffled his lines at practice Friday, looking to spark his squad after a few months of running more or less the same trios each game. He moved Josh Doan up to the top line with Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs, a combination that proved successful during the team’s 10-game winning streak back in December, and reunited Alex Tuch with Josh Norris and Jason Zucker, who had also worked well together in the past.
“When I look at our 5-on-5 scoring, I think it just needs a little freshness,” Ruff said. “I think the lines have been together a long time. I think it’s time just to tweak them a little bit and just let them go out and play.”
The Capitals (38-29-9, 85 points), meanwhile, will try to bounce back and stay in the race after a 7-3 setback against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday that snapped their three-game winning streak.
“This is a tough game for our group, no doubt,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “I feel like we needed to have this. We’ll regroup … I know how we are going to approach it as a staff and I know how our players are going to approach it and we will fight to Game 82, whatever the scenario.”
The Capitals are three points behind the Senators, who currently hold the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot and have a game in hand on Washington. There’s also the matter of the Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers sitting between the Capitals and Senators.
“Our backs are against the wall now,” winger Tom Wilson said. “This one stings. We were playing pretty good hockey, but I think we’ve got to throw this one out quickly, have a short memory and move forward.”
Rookie defenseman Cole Hutson scored his second career goal in the loss, and has six points through his first eight NHL games.
