Sabres Vs Capitals 04/03/2009 Review

Capitals fans celebrating last season's Southeast Division title on April 5, 2008.
Photo by Mithell Layton / Getty Images.

Sabres 5 - Capitals 4 OT

The Washington Capitals clinched the Southeast Division title for the second straight season, by getting the overtime point in last night's game versus the Buffalo Sabres. The play of both teams, and the on ice officiating as well, were inconsistent throughout. With that said, it was still an exciting game for the most part.

Both teams made some really good plays at times. Netminder Ryan "Sucker Punch" Miller and his Buffalo teammates never let up, showing that they are desperate to make the playoffs, which are currently just out of reach for them. They got a couple lucky bounces and deflections that turned into a few goals. The Sabres also made several mistakes that lead to a non-goal and a fairly steady parade to the penalty box.

The Capitals took advantage of those power play chances, scoring three times out of seven chances. They moved up to number one in the league for power play success. Washington also continued to do incredibly well in winning faceoffs. Rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov (3-0-1) might not have been at his best, but he was better in his fourth game than the score indicates. Alex Ovechkin scored his 55th goal of the season, extending his scoring streak to seven straight games, while on the power play in the first period. Alexander Semin hit the 30 goal mark with his second period PPG. Sergei Fedorov scored two goals, both with long range shots that made their way through traffic. Unfortunately, Fedorov was also the one that made the bad pass during overtime which led directly to Buffalo's game winning goal. There were some other mistakes and miscomunications by his Washington teammates, so all the blame certainly does not land solely on him.

The Caps kept shrinking the gap between themselves and the Eastern Conference's first place Boston Bruins over the past couple months, but Boston has now clinched the conference title for the season. Washington should be able to hold onto second place, though the New Jersey Devils aren't far behind them.

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The Capitals' inconsistencies have got to at least be greatly reduced if they are going to go far in the playoffs. They haven't got much time to work on it now, with only four regular season games left. Hopefully they can improve on their focus. They definitely have the talent to be Stanley Cup contenders.