PLAYOFF RACE UPDATE: Caps are in, The Sabres are Out

GAME 1: Sabres @ Flyers

                      Earlier tonight in Philadelphia, was a big game for the Sabres as they sat tied in 8th with the Capitals with 86 points. Ville Leino opened the scoring for Buffalo 17 minutes into the second. But in the third ,Marc-Andre Bourdon and Matt Read scored for the Flyers to give them a 2-1 lead. That would be the final as the Flyers gave the Capitals a chance to clinch a playoff spot as they beat the Sabres.“We played a pretty solid game. We got the turnovers we wanted. We just didn’t finish our opportunities,” said Ruff. “We didn’t finish our good chances. Some of them we didn’t get shots, a couple we missed the net. (Bryzgalov) made a good save on (Marcus) Foligno on that one play, but there were too many good chances by the wayside.”

GAME 2: Panthers @ Capitals

                      With the Sabres loss, the Capitals had a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win. Beagle,Ovechkin and Laich scored the first 3 gaols to make it 3-0 Caps. But the Panthers would rally with a goal from Samuelsson and Jovanovski to cut the lead to 1. But Alex Semin would add another goal as the Capitals win 4-2 and they clinch a playoff spot.“You could see that we were intense,” says Caps coach Dale Hunter. “We wanted the game and we were going to do what it takes to win. But it was a high intensity game; they came hard too and forechecked hard. It was one of those games that we had to sacrifice our body and all the guys did. They sacrificed to win, and that’s what you need to win. We got a lot of character in the room and that’s how we won tonight – through the character of the guys.”

Written By Andrew Di Pardo