Caps/Sabres Preview

Washington Capitals (26-34-13, 65 points)
at
Buffalo Sabres (46-19-7, 99 points)

Television: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM ET

It feels as though the season has been reborn again. The Capitals head into tonight's game in Buffalo riding a two game winning streak in which they dominated playoff caliber teams from Toronto and Tampa Bay. Back-to-back home wins included a 7-1 drubbing of the Lightning thanks to a breakout game from winger Tomas Fleichmann and the second career hat trick from Alexander Semin.

In one game Fleichmann doubled his scoring output for the entire season at the NHL level tallying a career high four points. It's the type of game the entire organization has been waiting for from the talented Czech prospect. He has proven at the AHL level that he is a dynamic player that has the ability to take control of a game. His problem has been transferring that production to the NHL level and securing a permanent spot with the big club. Hopefully, he will continue to build on his excellent game against the Lightning and provide the Capitals with another scoring option to complement the Alexs'.

The current win streak just happened to begin with the return of franchise goaltender Olie Kolzig, who has shown no signs of his knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for the past month. He clearly is the glue that keeps this team together.

The Sabres on the other hand have lost three consecutive games at home as they look to secure the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Goaltender Ryan Miller has struggled lately posting a 1-3-2 record with a 3.38 goals against average since stopping 29 shots in route to a 4-1 victory in Tampa March 5th.

The game also marks the first time Danius Zubrus will play against his former team. In his 9 games in Buffalo Zubrus has scored twice while averaging 18:22 of ice time in more of a checking role than he was used to with the Capitals.

Another win from Washington and things will certainly begin to get interesting as the Capitals look to finish off the season as they did last year, on a high note.

Thursday Morning Capitals Draft Update

The Capitals moved into 5th place in the race for the top pick in the NHL draft after the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Los Angeles Kings in overtime last night 3-2. With their move into the top five they now are eligible to win the 1st pick in the draft lottery. Under the terms of the rules, only the teams with the worst five records are eligible to move up to the number one pick. The Caps also control Buffalo's first round pick which at the moment would be the 29th selection. That will change based on the Sabres performance in the playoffs, just another reason to root against them.

The only problem with this draft is that it is not as strong as last year's as there is no clear cut franchise player. Here is the updated list of the top 30 skaters available as of March 7th. No goaltender is ranked to go in the first round.

Top 30 Skaters - Updated March 7

No.	Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Shot	DoB	Team
1.	Cherepanov, Alexei	RW	6.00	183	L	1/15/1989	Omsk
2.	Kane, Patrick	RW	5.10	162	L	11/9/1988	London
3.	Turris, Kyle	C	6.00	165	R	8/14/1989	Burnaby
4.	Van Riemsdyk, James	LW	6.03	191	L	5/4/1989	US Under-18
5.	Voracek, Jakub	C	6.01	188	L	8/15/1989	Halifax
6.	Alzner, Karl	D	6.02	210	L	9/4/1988	Calgary
7.	Couture, Logan	F	6.01	188	R	3/28/1989	Ottawa
8.	Gagner, Sam	RW	5.11	190	R	8/10/1989	London
9.	Ellerby, Keaton	D	6.03	182	L	11/5/1988	Kamloops
10.	Mayorov, Maxim	LW	6.02	187	L	3/26/1989	Leninogorsk
11.	Esposito, Angelo	C	6.01	180	L	2/20/1989	Quebec
12.	Gillies, Colton	C	6.04	194	L	2/12/1989	Saskatoon
13.	Petrecki, Nick	D	6.03	213	L	7/11/1989	Omaha
14.	Andersson, Joakim	C	6.02	198	L	2/5/1989	Frolunda
15.	Blum, John	D	6.00	155	R	1/30/1989	Vancouver
16.	Plante, Alex	D	6.05	220	R	5/9/1989	Calgary
17.	Veilleux, Keven	C	6.05	195	R	6/27/1989	Victoriaville
18.	Hamill, Zach	C	5.10.5	180	R	9/23/1989	Everett
19.	Hickey, Thomas	D	5.11	186	R	2/8/1989	Seattle
20.	Aliu, Akim	RW	6.02.5	207	R	4/24/1989	Sudbury
21.	Sutter, Brandon	C	6.03	174	R	2/14/1989	Red Deer
22.	Shattenkirk, Kevin	D	5.11	193	L	1/29/1989	USA Under-18
23.	Hoeffel, Mike	LW	6.01	175	L	4/9/1989	USA Under-18
24.	MacLean, Brett	LW	6.01.5	200	R	12/24/1988	Oshawa
25.	Moller, Oscar	C	5.10.5	182	R	1/22/1989	Chiliwack
26.	Gratchev, Max	LW	5.11	195	L	9/26/1988	Rimouski
27.	Ruzicka, Vladimir	C	6.01	180	L	2/17/1989	Slavia
28.	Doyle, Eric	D	6.02	191	L	4/5/1989	Everett
29.	Backlund, Mikael	C	6.00	191	L	3/17/1989	Vasteras
30.	Tyrell, Dana	C	5.10	185	L	4/23/1989	Prince George

The Caps should be able to chose either a right wing or center, their two positions of greatest need prospect wise.

Caps Roster Notes:

The team announced yesterday that both Chris Clark and Boyd Gordon will return to action Friday night when the Caps host the Carolina Hurricanes. In response the team reassigned forwards Alexandre Giroux and Dave Steckel back to Hershey. Giroux played well in his brief time with the big club, providing a nice spark to the lineup with his speed and hustle. Steckel did not see any action after being recalled before Tuesday's game in Toronto.

Zubrus and Heward Dealt at Deadline

Danius Zubrus to Buffalo for Jiri Novotny and a 1st Round Pick

To For

Overall this is an amazing return for a player that has proven that he is nothing more than a second line center or better yet a right wing. The problem with Zubrus has never been his skill level, where at times he has displayed what a dominate player he can be. He has just never been able to provide the consistency needed to be a first line player, as he has a tendency to disappear for extended periods. While it would have been nice to keep him in Washington for his leadership, his contract demands at the moment did not make that possible.

In Novotny, the Caps get the young center that they coveted who is a former first round pick of the Sabres in 2001. He is a player that has excelled at every level he has played at, but with the quality depth in Buffalo, he has yet to receive an opportunity to play a key role at the NHL level. In Washington he will definitely get that opportunity as he should step right in to the top line with Ovechkin. Novotny's profile from The Internet Hockey Database:

Jiri Novotny

Center
Born Aug 12 1983  -- Pelhrimov, Czech Rep.
Height 6.02 -- Weight 194 -- Shoots R


Selected by Buffalo Sabres round 1 #22 overall 2001 NHL Entry Draft

                                      --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2000-01  Ceske Budejovice HC         Czech  19    0    4    4    2  --  --  --  --  --
2001-02  Ceske Budejovice HC         Czech  41    8    6   14    6  --  --  --  --  --
2002-03  Rochester Americans         AHL    43    2    9   11   14   3   0   1   1  10
2003-04  Rochester Americans         AHL    48    1   14   15   16  13   0   1   1  10
2004-05  Rochester Americans         AHL    61    5   20   25   36   9   2   2   4   4
2005-06  Rochester Americans         AHL    66   17   37   54   40  --  --  --  --  --
2005-06  Buffalo Sabres              NHL    14    2    1    3    0   4   0   0   0   0
2006-07  Buffalo Sabres              NHL    50    6    7   13   26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NHL Totals                         64    8    8   16   26   4   0   0   0   0

Jamie Heward to Los Angeles For a Conditional Draft Pick in 2008

    To  

This seems to be nothing more than move to make some space on the Capitals blue line. With the recent return of Pothier, Erskine, and Muir from injuries, the team had too many defenseman. This opens up a spot for Eminger to get back into the lineup after he had been a healthy scratch for the past 6 games. It also means that Jeff Schultz has solidified his spot in the lineup for the rest of the season. The conditional draft pick most likely is contingent on whether Heward resigns with the Kings over the summer.