NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Friday night’s matchup between the Buffalo Sabres and the Washington Capitals with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Caps this season, following Washington’s 4-3 shootout win six days ago in D.C. The season series will conclude on Feb. 23 in Buffalo.
Buffalo is coming off a 5-2 loss at home to Florida – a game the Sabres led 2-1 after two periods. Buffalo had been 9-0-2 when leading after 40 minutes this season. In the 10 games since Buffalo’s team-record-tying 10-game win streak, they’ve gone 3-4-3.
The Sabres are getting the vast majority of their offensive production from their top line of Jeff Skinner, Jack Eichel, and Sam Reinhart. Skinner has already surpassed his goal total from last season (which was 24 in 82 games with Carolina), so given that he’s in a contract year, more and more attention is being paid to his future.
Though Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet on Wednesday, he’s still scored 29 goals in 33 games, and is on pace to crack the 70-goal barrier. No one has scored 70 goals since Alexander Mogilny (with the Sabres) and Teemu Selanne both scored 76 in 1992-93.
With one more goal, Ovechkin would join former longtime Capital Mike Gartner as the only players in history to score 30-plus goals in each of their first 14 NHL seasons (Gartner did so in his first 15). [WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6 P.M. ET – NBCSN]
What: Buffalo Sabres at Washington Capitals Where: Capital One Arena When: Friday, Dec. 21, 6 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Live stream: You can watch the Sabres-Capitals stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
SABRES Jeff Skinner - Jack Eichel - Sam Reinhart Conor Sheary - Vladimir Sobotka - Evan Rodrigues Zemgus Girgensons - Casey Mittelstadt - Kyle Okposo Remi Elie - Johan Larsson - Tage Thompson
Rasmus Dahlin - Zach Bogosian Lawrence Pilut - Rasmus Ristolainen Marco Scandella - Jake McCabe
Starting goalie: Carter Hutton
CAPITALS Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie Jakub Vrana - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Tom Wilson Andre Burakovsky - Lars Eller - Brett Connolly Chandler Stephenson - Nic Dowd - Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny - John Carlson Dmitry Orlov - Matt Niskanen Jonas Siegenthaler - Madison Bowey
Starting goalie: Braden Holtby
————
Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.
