Sabres-Capitals Game Will Seperate the Men from the Boys

Give the Sabres credit for crawling out of the Eastern Conference cellar and putting themselves in position to earn a playoff spot, but if they lose tonight it might not matter. Why give the Washington Capitals the keys to the playoffs.  Just bury them and send the message that this Buffalo Sabres team is different from years past. You owe that to the Sabres fans, and you owe that to Terry Pegula who has invested alot to make this team better this year.With a win the Sabres would be in 8th place and have the Capitals on the tie breaker. With 5 games left the Sabres would chart their own destiny. Since the Drury-Briere era ended, the Sabres are notorious for leaving points behind, giving up late period goals and losing to teams that they are clearly better than. Tonight they can leave that stigma behind. Show us that the "Core Group"-Pominville, Vanek, Roy, Miller and Stafford are different. Light up the Capitals rookie goalie Braden Holtby. Match Alex Ovechkin's physical play and shut him down. Show us that the new talent Marcus Foligno, Cody Hodgson and Alexander Sulzer are ready to start a new era. Grab this opportunity and get it done. The Sabres are 18-5-5 in thier last 28 games since the All-Star Break. They have been the best team in the Eastern Conference during that time, mostly because of the play of Ryan Miller. If they don't make the playoffs, it would be all for naught. A player like Derek Roy has the opportunity to be the difference maker. You've come this far, now show the hockey world that this is the team you don't want to face in the first round. Charge like the Buffalo stampede in that silly pre-game video intro, and send us a message that this team is for real.