Buffalo Sabres – Washington Capitals Game Preview

3/30/25 – 3:00pm EST at Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

Record

Buffalo – 30-36-6 | 66 points – 8th place in the Atlantic Division

Washington – 47-16-9 | 103 points – 1st place in the Metropolitan Division

Special Teams

Buffalo

Power Play – 17.9% (26th)

Penalty Kill – 76.2% (23rd)

Washington

Power Play – 21.5% (17th)

Penalty Kill – 82.7% (3rd)

Top Scorers

Buffalo

Tage Thompson: 66 GP, 36 G, 27 A, 63 PTS

Rasmus Dahlin: 63 GP, 13 G, 44 A, 57 PTS

JJ Peterka: 67 GP, 23 G, 34 A, 57 PTS

Washington

Dylan Strome: 72 GP, 23 G, 45 A, 68 PTS

Aliaksei Protas: 72 GP, 29 G, 35 A, 64 PTS

Pierre-Luc Dubois: 72 GP, 18 G, 43 A, 61 PTS

Starting Goalies

Buffalo – James Reimer (5-6-2, 2.63 GAA, .908 save %)

Washington – Logan Thompson (31-4-6, 2.32 GAA, .917 save %)

Other Sabres Stories

Sabres Ownership Ranked Worst In NHL By Survey In The Athletic

Is Peterka In Prime Position For Big Payday?

Dahlin Refutes Assertion Of Wanting Out Of Buffalo

Line Combinations and Pairings

Forwards

Zach Benson - Jiri Kulich - Tage Thompson

JJ Peterka - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn

Jason Zucker– Peyton Krebs - Alex Tuch

Beck Malenstyn - Tyson Kozak – Isak Rosen

Defense

Mattias Samuelsson – Jacob Bryson

Owen Power - Jacob Bernard-Docker

Bowen Byram - Connor Clifton

Goaltenders

James Reimer

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Injuries

Josh Norris (day-to-day – mid-body)

Rasmus Dahlin (day-to-day – illness)

Jordan Greenway (day-to-day – unknown)

Notes

The Sabres have earned at least one point in nine of their last 10 contests against the Capitals (5-1-4). Six of the last 10 games between Buffalo and Washington have been decided in overtime or a shootout.

In his last 12 games, Ryan McLeod has posted 15 points (3+12) and has collected 17 points (3+14) in his last 13 road games. McLeod has recorded eight assists in his last four games and an assist in today’s game would make him the first Sabres skater since Sam Reinhart from Dec. 15 to 22, 2018 (nine assists) to register nine or more assists in any five-game span. A multi-assist performance would make McLeod the Sabres skater to reach 10 or more assists in any fivegame span since Pat LaFontaine from Jan. 29 to Feb. 10, 1993 (10 assists).

JJ Peterka has tallied 25 points (13+12) in his last 23 games and he has registered 13 points (6+7) in his last 12 games.

Tage Thompson has posted 38 points (20+18) in his last 37 games, including 23 points (14+9) in his last 22.

In his last four games, Tyson Kozak has recorded four points (2+2). Peyton Krebs is riding a career-best three-game point streak and he has tallied four points (1+3) in that span.

Jack Quinn has recorded at least one point in three consecutive games and he has tallied five points (3+2) in that span. A point today would give Quinn a four-game point streak, which would be the second-longest point streak of his career (six games; Nov. 28 to Dec, 9, 2022; 3+4).

In his last four games, Alex Tuch has posted four points (3+1). A goal in today’s game would give Tuch his second three-game goal streak of the season (Feb. 25 to March 3, 2025; 4+0).

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo