Washington Capitals Fan Forum
Talk about Capitals hockey & more! => Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion => Topic started by: alta on Thursday March 12, 2026, 02:35:35 PM Eastern
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March 12 vs Sabres at KeyBank Center
Time: 7:00
TV: Monumental Sports 2
Radio: 106.7FM, Caps Radio Network
Washington Capitals 32-27-7
PP% 16.7(26th) PK% 78.8(18th) Faceoff% 50.2(17th)
Buffalo Sabres 40-19-6
PP% 20.8(16th) PK% 82.5(4th) Faceoff% 45.1(32nd)
Caps anticipated lines:
Beauvillier 72 - Sourdif 34 - Ovechkin(C) 8
Lapierre 29 - Dubois 80 - Wilson(A) 43
Protas 21 - Strome 17 - Leonard 9
Duhaime 22 - McMichael 24 - Frank 53
Sandin 38 - Roy(A) 3
Chychrun 6 - van Riemsdyk 57
Fehérváry 42 - Liljegren 27
Lindgren 79
Thompson 48 - backup
PP1: Ovechkin, Strome, Wilson, Dubois, Chychrun
PP2: Ovechkin, McMichael, Leonard, Protas, Sandin
scratched:
Miroshnichenko 63
Kampf 64
Chisholm 47
McIlrath 52
Sabres anticipated lines:
Benson 6 - Ostlund 86 - Thompson(A) 72
Zucker 17 - McLeod 71 - Quinn 22
Krebs 19 - Norris 9 - Doan 91
Pearson 70 - Carrick 10 - Malenstyn 29
Samuelsson(A) 23 - Dahlin(C) 26
Byram 4 - Power 25
Stanley 64 - Schenn 5
Luukkonen 1
Lyon 34 - backup
tonight’s zebras:
Francis Charron 6, Furman South 13
Andrew Smith 51, Brandon Grillo 75
https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/caps-battle-sabres-in-buffalo (https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/caps-battle-sabres-in-buffalo)
https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/skate-shavings-news-and-notes-from-caps-morning-skate-x1511 (https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/skate-shavings-news-and-notes-from-caps-morning-skate-x1511)
https://scoutingtherefs.com/2026/03/51456/todays-nhl-referees-and-linespersons-3-12-26/ (https://scoutingtherefs.com/2026/03/51456/todays-nhl-referees-and-linespersons-3-12-26/)
scoring summary
1st period:
Carrick from Malenstyn at 6:02
2nd period:
Leonard(14) unassisted at 2:14
3rd period:
Chychrun(23) from Protas and van Riemsdyk at 18:27
Caps win 2-1
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Coach met with the media this afternoon. Lineup will stay the same, but some line changes. Lindgren in net. It appears Kampf still has visa issues.
Tonight is McMichael’s 300th game.
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:gocaps:
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:hopslam: Someone needs to tell the Caps that the game has begun.
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:O=
:clown: :poop:
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We got this! They're only outshooting us 8-zip half way through the 1st! :rofl:
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37 tries to get that Fn stream to work to find THIS! :raised-eyebrow:
Mick! WTH were you doing with my Caps for the first 11 minutes? :raspberry:
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Guys are prolly tired from ALL the shots they took yesterday :-|
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Buffalo 1st in the Atlantic is crazy. They were like THE worst team in the league the first (*unknown portion) of the season
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OV getting physical seems to have motivated the guys a tad
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Buffalo is making the Caps look :stirringupshit:
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Silent treatment? two can play at that game smart guy. Total Fucking Silence....
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Hmm me thinks the Caps are making the caps look that way
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Guys would have a better chance of getting a shot if they moved the puck to the other end of the ice
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PK time
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Caps down 1-0 after one
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That was the worst successful PK I think I've seen :clap:
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How much slower would the Caps look before the trade deadline?
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GOOOAAALLLL
LEONARD
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PP time
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Shit, a PPK.. :( It'll probably kill the slight momentum we had.
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nother pk . .
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1-1 after two
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Shocked I tell ya. Made it through the 2nd w/o giving up goals.
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Willy was outa gas, end of shift
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nother pp . .
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nother pp . . W/O Leonard on with PP1. :clown:
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Caps are getting their asses handed to them at the faceoff dot tonight, 10:00 left in regulation and Buffalo is pushing %64
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nother pp . . W/O Leonard on with PP1. :clown:
I’ve noticed it depends on the players last shift. It’s why Willy wasn’t on PP1 one time last night
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I’ve noticed it depends on the players last shift. It’s why Willy wasn’t on PP1 one time last night
Makes sense. But wasn't he playing on the same line as Dubois? Dubois was on PP1. 2 centers no less. And PP2 had McMike as their play maker. :rofl:
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Coach keeps throwing spaghetti at the wall. D pairs are not what started this game, again.
and OV and Willy just went to bench at the same time
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GOOOAAALLLL
CHYCHRUN
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I don’t think Chychrun’s raw meat diet is effective. I’d never guess he’s under 30 years old.
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empty net
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CAPS WIN
8-0
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Nuts that Chychrun might lead the team in goals at seasons end. lol
Chucky saved us tonight! 1 or 2 goals a game won't cut mustard most nights.
Bastan on Saturday. 3pm
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:cw:
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That was fun
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Caps definitely skated better after the 1st
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Kudos to the Caps - they finally got the ice tilted late in the game and beat a team on a real hot streak.
Probably too late for the playoffs though - they have 3 teams that are all playing well to climb over, and THEN have to also dislodge one of the teams currently in playoff position. AND they are several points up on ALL the non-playoff teams in the West, so it looks like a draft pick in the low-mid teens. The ONLY way the Caps sneak into the playoffs is obviously to go on a hot streak from now to the end. There is one faint hope to accomplish this, and it is, oddly, due to the fact that everyone else in the league has games, usually multiple games, in hand on the Caps. The Caps' schedule as a result is not too bad - 15 games left in the last 33 days of the regular season. But other teams are really going to be squeezed by the schedule down the stretch, and the Caps may be facing a lot of teams more tired than they are. Perhaps that can work in their favor - though you'd think that fatigue wouldn't be all that much of an issue given the recent 2-week break.
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Ice still talking playoff scenarios? :huh: I thought Alta, Hillbilly and I we're the only drunks on site here? :snicker:
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It’s still mathematically possible.
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My feeling is that, while the probability the Caps make the playoffs is greater than zero, it rounds to zero.
Under other circumstances, this would feel like a statement victory: traveling for the second game of a back to back, against a top team on an 8 game winning streak, sitting at home and having not played the day before, and the Caps figured out a way to get it done. The problem of course is that there is simply too little of the season left to make a huge move in the standings. If they get in they will have to squeak in by the narrowest of margins, and things probably have to go exactly right among the several teams immediately above them.
Now the Caps go home for 4 of their remaining 7 home games. They almost have to sweep the homestead to have any playoff chance at all.
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Both of you need a meeting. :snicker: It'd take history type stuff to get them into the post season and this team doesn't have anything that resembles (good) history..
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Historic like when the Caps won 12 of their last 15 for Boudreau’s first season to squeak into the playoffs?
:-|
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Historic like when the Caps won 12 of their last 15 for Boudreau’s first season to squeak into the playoffs?
Yeah, that's probably what it would take -- IF that is even enough.
:-|
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I think I heard some talking heads a week or two ago saying the Caps road is one of the toughest because even though they have less games to play, they have to play more "playoff teams" then nearly any other team in the WC running
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Tanking earns them nothing, and I’m not fond of the practice. I’d rather see them show some pride and compete. Maybe play spoiler.
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I think I heard some talking heads a week or two ago saying the Caps road is one of the toughest because even though they have less games to play, they have to play more "playoff teams" then nearly any other team in the WC running
The Caps have 15 games remaining. 5 are against clearly non-playoff teams: New Jersey twice, St. Louis, the Rangers, and Toronto. 4 are against playoff-safe teams and/or teams that don't relate to the Caps' playoff chances: Colorado, Buffalo, Utah, and Vegas (with Utah and Vegas having about the same records as the Caps.) The remaining 6 are against teams that the Caps need to try to climb over to get to the playoffs: Boston, Ottawa,Philadelphia, Columbus, and the Pens twice.
There are only two games against teams clearly superior to the Caps: Colorado and Buffalo (who of course they just defeated). And the point is, if you have an uphill climb to the playoffs, you WANT as many games as possible against the teams you are trying to beat out, because those are the 4 point games that are zero-sum. Your gain is your opponent's loss. After all, at this point you can win all you want, but if the teams ahead of you are playing others and winning as well, you gain nothing.
The Caps' schedule can be seen as tough, but it's also a schedule that gives them a significant chance to pull themselves past other teams, IF they can get hot.
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Tanking earns them nothing, and I’m not fond of the practice. I’d rather see them show some pride and compete. Maybe play spoiler.
Well then you should have been happy about last night. As was I. The first half of the game the Caps were a step behind. Then they slowly dragged themselves into the game and eventually tilted the ice toward the end, playing the second half of a back-to-back against a rested, top team playing at home with an 8 game win streak.