Sabres at Capitals | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

WASHINGTON – Buffalo could clinch a playoff berth before hitting the ice Saturday at Capital One Arena.

If the Rangers beat the Red Wings in regulation (12:30 p.m.), the Sabres will already be playoff-bound when they face the Washington Capitals at 7 p.m. Without New York's help, Buffalo can clinch with a win.

Whatever seals the deal, the Sabres are eager to make it official and end the organization’s 14-year postseason drought. But they’ve got 100 points and have been the NHL’s best team for nearly four months, so just making the playoffs is no longer the goal; they aim to qualify, then go on a run.

In Thursday’s 4-1 defeat at Ottawa, the neutral zone was clogged, high-danger shots were few and far between, and some apparent penalties went uncalled. Losing in that environment reminded the Sabres that they’re hardly a finished product.

“Every game’s gonna be like this, and if we want to be able to do anything in the postseason, (we’re) gonna have to find ways to win different ways,” said alternate captain Mattias Samuelsson, who scored the only goal in the loss. “And we definitely didn’t do that tonight.”

“We’re not in the playoffs yet,” added forward Jason Zucker. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We need to shore up a lot of what we’re doing. I don’t think we have any panic in our room, but we have some stuff that we need to have a little bit more urgency towards.”

Buffalo now faces another urgent opponent in the Capitals, who sit three points out of a wild card spot but just got blown out in New Jersey on Thursday. And Washington knows it can hang with the Sabres, having beaten them 2-1 at KeyBank Center last month.

Here are all the details before Saturday’s puck drop.

How to watch

TV (Sabres broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes

Alex Lyon had his own net at Friday’s practice, so he’ll likely start after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played the last three. Lyon is 10-0-1 with a .926 save percentage in his last 11 road games.

The Sabres have totaled just three 5-on-5 goals the last three games, so coach Lindy Ruff made a handful of other lineup adjustments on Friday. Check out the practice report for the full rundown.

Here’s the projected lineup:

Notable numbers

• Buffalo hasn’t lost consecutive games in regulation since Dec. 3-8 (3 straight).
• A win Saturday would give the Sabres 102 points, their most since 2006-07 (113).
• With Samuelsson’s goal on Thursday, the Sabres now have 53 goals from defensemen this season, second most in the NHL. The Capitals (50) rank third.
• Zach Metsa has played 3:15 shorthanded in two games since returning from Rochester.

Scouting the Capitals

Even with Thursday’s loss, the Capitals have gone 7-3-2 in their last 12 games to stay afloat in the wild card race. That span includes their March 12 win in Buffalo, which saw Jakob Chychrun score the winner with 1:33 remaining in regulation.

Washington has since called up touted prospect Cole Hutson, a defenseman like his brother, Lane, in Montreal. Cole has averaged 16:34 of ice time in eight games with six points (2+4).

Alex Ovechkin scored twice on Tuesday to reach 31 goals in 2025-26. The 40-year-old winger has reached the 30-goal mark in 20 of his 21 seasons. He doesn’t do much without the puck anymore, but he’s still lethal with it.