Sabres vs. Capitals
Faceoff: 7p. m. in HSBC Arena TV: MSG Radio: 550 AM Series: Tied, 1-1
Buffalo Sabres
Who’s hot: Ales Kotalik has five points in three games. Record last 5: 2-1-2 Power play: 32-163 (19.6%, 12th) Penalty killing: 127-146 (87.0%, 3rd) Injuries: Craig Rivet (shoulder), Patrick Kaleta (head), Paul Gaustad (upper body) and Nathan Gerbe (upper body) are day to day; Tim Connolly (rib) is out. Fast fact: The Sabres are 3-2 in shootouts after beating the Islanders in one Saturday.
Washington Capitals
Who’s hot: Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin have four points in two games. Record last 5: 4-1 Power play: 35-153 (22.9%, 5th) Penalty killing: 139-174 (79.9%, 23rd) Injuries: Donald Brashear (leg), Sergei Fedorov (ankle), Tomas Fleischmann (flu), Mike Green (shoulder), Tom Poti (groin) and Alexander Semin (back) are day to day; John Erskine (concussion), Brian Pothier (concussion) and Jeff Schultz (broken finger) are out. Fast fact: Mike Gartner was the fourth Capital to have his jersery retired, joining Yvon Labre (No. 7), Rod Langway (No. 5) and Dale Hunter (No. 32).
