Gameday: Caps Vs Sabres | Alzner Answers SOS, 2 Desperate Teams

Home Sweet Home, Caps Seek to Snap Losing Ways

Following a grueling mini road trip to the play the Eastern Canadian teams which included 3 road games in 4 nights, the injury plagued Washington Capitals are back in DC, at home within the comforts of the Verizon Center to take on a Sabres club lost in a slump of their own.

The Caps are in need of snapping their current 3 game rut, but so are the Sabres as Buffalo waltzes into DC having lost consecutive games to Panthers, Bruins, and Senators while being outscored by a margin of 13-6.

While Buffalo was only able to grab 1 point in their last 3 games, the Caps have managed to snag 2 during that span.

Regardless of the struggles, the bottom line tonight is that someone is going to snap their losing streak.

Considering the Capitals are at home where they boast a record of 7-2-3, Washington should have the upper hand, but the Caps have had a brutal tendency of underestimating their opponents lately and Buffalo, which has a road record of 5-3-0, always plays the Caps hard.

In order to help the team out, the Capitals decided to return Andrew Gordon and John Carlson to the Hershey Bears and to finally make the long-awaited decision of bringing up Karl Alzner.

Here are the releases as per the Washington Capitals:

Capitals Assign John Carlson, Andrew Gordon to Hershey

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have assigned defenseman John Carlson and right wing Andrew Gordon to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.
Carlson, 19, is a first-year pro who played three games for Washington, including his NHL debut Friday against Montreak. The Natick, Mass., native has played 17 games for Hershey and has one goal, nine assists and zero penalty minutes. His 10 points lead all Hershey blueliners and rank tied for third among AHL rookie defensemen and his +14 rating is tied for the league lead with teammates Karl Alzner and Alexandre Giroux.
Gordon, 23, played two games for Washington, the second and third of his NHL career, since being recalled on Saturday. He ranks second on the Bears in goals (8, tied), assists (12) and points (20) through 18 games. He is tied for sixth in the league in points.

Capitals Recall Karl Alzner

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have recalled defenseman Karl Alzner from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.
Alzner, 21, is a second-year pro who stands 6’3”, 206 pounds. The Burnaby, British Columbia, native has played 19 games for Hershey this season and has one goal, three assists and only four penalty minutes. His +14 rating is tied for the AHL lead with teammates John Carlson and Alexandre Giroux.
Alzner played in 30 games with Washington last season, recording one goal, four assists and only two penalty minutes. He was the only NHL defenseman with more than 25 games played who had fewer than eight penalty minutes. He played in 48 games for Hershey last season and had four goals, 16 assists and 10 penalty minutes. Alzner shared the lead among AHL rookies with a +23 rating, and he had two assists in 10 playoff games as Hershey won the Calder Cup.
The Capitals selected Alzner in the first round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft with the fifth overall pick. Alzner, who is No. 27 with Washington, is eligible to make his season debut tonight at Verizon Center when the Caps host Buffalo.

There is a lot at stake tonight.

With a win tonight, the Capitals can return to 1st overall in the Eastern Conference(depending on how the Pens fare versus the streaking Habs).

With a win tonight, the Sabres can leapfrog the Ottawa Senators into 1st place in the Northeast Division and take hold of 3rd overall in the Eastern Conference.

The goaltending on both sides is stellar. Miller is the leading candidate to start for Team USA while Varlamov is making an impressive case to be on Team Russia this February and Jose Theodore is enjoying a resurgence in his play.

As neither team is all that worried about their goaltending, it will be the ailing offenses which will prove the difference tonight.

Considering how meager the Caps D has been of lately, the addition of Karl Alzner and return of Milan Jurcina should shore up the Caps blue line tremendously.

The Sabres D runs a tight ship and with a complete roster of healthy players, Buffalo has all of their weapons ready, willing and able. The Sabres have allowed the 3rd least amount of goals against in the NHL, giving up a mere 50 goals in only 20 games so far, so the Capitals are going to need to show some intense emotion, character and effort tonight in order to breakthrough Buffalo’s stellar defense.

It’s all about the slump busters and with both teams possessing some quick and talented forwards, tonight is going to be a real dog-fight.

Game Notes

-         Theodore is ready to get back in nets, but Varly has played so well lately that it’s hard for Boudreau to not give the rookie another chance to get a win. Regardless of who starts, the Caps will need to put on a better performance for their netminder.

-         According to http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalsinsider/, Semyon Varlamov was the first goalie off the ice this morning, so that likely indicates that he will be getting the start.

-         Tom Poti is suffering from a deep chest bruise, so if he cannot skate tonight, expect John Erskine to play.

-         It was Nicklas Backstrom’s birthday on Monday, happy belated Nicky!

-         Ovechkin and Backstrom are cruising right now. They need to step up and start dominating the play. Their ability to generate scoring chances over the last few games has not been the problem, it’s their finish. The Caps dynamic duo need to lead this team and not wait around for someone else to step up.

-         The secondary scoring has chipped in, albeit not as much as hoped lately.

-         The Caps are tied with the San Jose Sharks for the most goals in the NHL with 85(the Caps have a game in hand on SJ). The Hawks and Avs are tied for 2^nd with 74.

-         Despite losing 3 straight on their Canadian crossing, the Caps are tied with the Sharks, the Hawks and the Lightning(!!!) for the least amount of regulation losses in the NHL with 5.

-         The Penalty Kill and defense has been brutal lately. The return of Karl Alzner will hopefully add a much needed dynamic to the Capitals blue line.

-         Alzner, who is not known for his scoring, will probably be paired with a veteran, yet when he played in Washington for an extended stretch last season, he skated with Milan Jurcina and formed an excellent shutdown pair. Alzner’s partnership with Jurcina made Milan a better defenseman, so expect Boudreau to unite this pairing at some point.

-         With injuries still plaguing the team, Tyler Sloan will likely return to the offense to skate on the 4^th line. Sloan has become the ultimate player for Washington in these tough times and does not get nearly enough credit for the job he is doing.

-         It appears that Adam Mair, Andrej Sekera and Nathan Paetsch will be the healthy scratches for the Sabres tonight.

For more on tonight’s game, including more Game Notes and the full lineup’s for tonight, please check out my extended Game Preview.

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Go Caps!!!!!