Dustin Tokarski will start in goal. Tokarski has allowed one goal on 54 shots in his last two starts, the latter of which was a 24-save shutout in Calgary.
There will be no other lineup changes, coach Don Granato said. View the projected lineup in its entirety below.
| March 25 vs. Washington |
| --- |
| | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 24 Dylan Cozens | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 20 Cody Eakin | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| LD | RD | G |
| 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 78 Jacob Bryson | 31 Dustin Tokarski |
| 33 Colin Miller | 13 Mark Pysyk | |
The Sabres are 7-3-0 through 10 games in March. Each of those contests have been against teams in playoff position (Toronto, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Florida, Edmonton, Calgary, and Pittsburgh) or teams that are still in the thick of the race (Vegas and Vancouver).
Eakin said it feels as though the Sabres have begun to grab ahold of the identity they have been working towards since training camp.
"There's a lot of little things we're doing. Instead of all the cute plays we're focusing on getting pucks in and all the old [cliches]," he said.
"But, you know, we have to go in and work hard and grind it down low and then let the creativity take over after that when the pucks are behind them and they're kind of turning around sorting their defensive zone. That's when the creativity can kind of take over and we've got plenty of each."
Eakin centered a line with Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo early in the season, two fellow veterans who play a simple, direct game.
The trio was broken up as each member experience absences at various points during the season. Granato put them back together once Girgensons returned from injury in Edmonton last Thursday and has since leaned on them to open games against opposing top lines.
"Those guys are just workhorses," Eakin said. "They do all the right things. Great teammates. It's fun to get back together and try and get some momentum on our side and play in the O-zone as much as we can."
Video: PREGAME: Eakin
The Sabres will wear the off-white jerseys they wore for their Heritage Classic victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. It will be the only time they wear them in Buffalo.
Eakin was asked this morning to reflect on the outdoor win.
"That was a real fun day, real fun weekend," he said. "You got there, the practice was cold, windy. We said, 'Holy, this is gonna be a tough one.' The wind cooled down, we had a little light snow, and it turned out to be perfect with a good wind and a lot of laughs and joking around, obviously throughout the weekend. So, it'll be one we remember."
Video: PREGAME: Granato
Washington is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games, fueled in part by a 10-game point streak from center Evgeny Kuznetsov. He has 13 points (7+6) in that span.
Ovechkin, 36, leads the Capitals in goals (40) and points (76).
"He's a challenge," Granato said. "Physically, when he wants to go, he can run you right over and obviously he can finesse his way when he wants to do that too. And a lot of times it's in the same sequence. But our guys have loved the challenge of it and I don't see any difference tonight."
Ilya Samsonov will start in goal.
