The Washington Capitals will be back in action at Capital One Arena on Saturday night after three days away from their home rink.
After winning two games in a row last week, the Capitals dropped a rough one against their former head coach, Peter Laviolette, and the then-winless Los Angeles Kings this past Tuesday. To get back on track, they’ll need to take down a Buffalo Sabres team that has been similarly uneven to start the 2026-27 campaign, coming into the contest with a 4-4-2 record.
“Very skilled up front,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said of the Sabres. “Not necessarily the biggest, most physical, hard, heavy, fore-checking forward group, but a forward group that can skate and is extremely slick. So they are going to try to break you down off the rush, off an entry, beat you in one-on-one situations with Quinn, Benson, Helenius, obviously Tage and the usual suspects, but they’ve got a lot of skill and speed in their forward group. I think that’s where we need to take a lot of what we did well for 40 minutes against New Jersey and apply that tonight against Buffalo’s group.”
The Sabres are led in scoring by 25-year-old winger Jack Quinn, who has 10 points (5g, 5a) in 10 games. Tage Thompson, who posted his third career 40-goal season last year, will enter the game tied with Quinn for the team lead in goals with five markers.
“You don’t see many 6-foot-6 (players), or however tall he clocks in at, that can bomb a puck like he can,” Carbery said of Thompson. “What I think he’s really grown into is his skating ability at that size. He’s so smooth now. He’s not necessarily a burner, but he’s just so good on his edges and through the neutral zone, making guys miss and getting in and out of tight areas. For a guy that size, it’s impressive.”
Buffalo’s primary issues to start this season have come in net, where their two netminders, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis, have matching .864 save percentages. Luukkonen, who will start against the Capitals, is also giving up 3.53 goals per game.
News
Capitals injury updates
While Logan Thompson was on the ice Saturday morning, he is not ready to return from the lower-body injury he suffered in his last start against the Kings. Charlie Lindgren will get the nod from Carbery against Buffalo, with Mitch Gibson, recently recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears, as his backup.
Saturday’s game will be Washington’s first of many over the next few weeks without defenseman Vincent Desharnais, as he is now on the shelf after undergoing an appendectomy earlier this week. Timothy Liljegren will move up to the second defense pair, with Dylan McIlrath returning to the lineup on the third pair.
In better news, the Capitals will get both Pierre-Luc Dubois and Justin Sourdif back from their respective illnesses.
Sabres missing one of their centers
Buffalo has its own injury issues coming into the contest, including one that popped up at their last practice. During the skate, center Jiri Kulich took a puck to the face and left the team’s road trip to return to Buffalo for evaluation.
Kulich will not play against the Capitals, and Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff did not know if he would be able to rejoin the team during their current four-game road trip. The 22-year-old pivot has three points (1g, 2a) in eight games this season.
Projected lineup
Capitals lines
With all of their injury updates, here’s how the Capitals should look.
Sabres lines
Buffalo’s projected lines come via team reporter Heather Engel.
Capitals add to defense depth with waiver claim
The Capitals claimed former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany from the Winnipeg Jets, Saturday afternoon. St. Ivany arrives in DC as the Capitals needed another right-shot defenseman after Vincent Desharnais recently underwent an appendectomy surgery that will keep him out of the lineup for the next 4 to 6 weeks. The Caps were operating with just six healthy defenders with Desharnais and Rasmus Sandin sidelined.
Fun factoids
- The Capitals have scored a power-play goal in three straight games, a feat they accomplished only four times last season. Their longest streak was five games.
- Last season, the Capitals earned five of six possible standings points against Buffalo (2-0-1), winning the lone matchup at Capital One Arena.
- Alex Tuch will play his first game against his former team with the Capitals. In his career against Buffalo, his hometown team, Tuch has recorded one goal in three games.
Puck drop is set for 7 pm. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin will have the call on Monumental Sports Network.
