{"id":539359,"date":"2026-04-03T23:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539359\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T23:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:41:12","slug":"sabres-aim-to-clinch-playoff-spot-against-capitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539359\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabres Aim to Clinch Playoff Spot Against Capitals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"submission-link-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=Buffalo%2C+NY&amp;city=Buffalo&amp;type=Update+Existing+Story&amp;headline=Sabres+Aim+to+Clinch+Playoff+Spot+Against+Capitals&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Fny%2Fbuffalo%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F03%2Fsabres-aim-to-clinch-playoff-spot-against-capitals%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69d04e3240dc4.jpg\" alt=\"A cubist, geometric painting depicting a hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals, with the players and action broken down into sharp, overlapping planes of blue, gold, and red.\" width=\"1344\" height=\"768\" class=\"news-image\"\/>The Sabres&#8217; quest to end their 14-year playoff drought comes down to a crucial matchup against the Capitals.Buffalo Today<\/p>\n<p>The Buffalo Sabres will have another chance to clinch a playoff berth when they face the Washington Capitals on Saturday. The Sabres fell short in their first attempt to end their 14-season playoff drought, losing to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>      Why it matters<\/p>\n<p>Making the playoffs would be a major milestone for the Sabres, who have struggled to reach the postseason for over a decade. The team&#8217;s loyal fanbase is eager to see their squad return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011.<\/p>\n<p>            The details<\/p>\n<p>The Sabres need a win or an overtime\/shootout loss against the Capitals to officially secure a playoff spot. They were unable to get the job done against the Senators, falling 4-2 in their previous game.<\/p>\n<p>      The Sabres lost to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, April 3, 2026.Buffalo will face the Washington Capitals on Saturday, April 5, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>        The players<\/p>\n<p>        Buffalo Sabres<\/p>\n<p>An NHL hockey team based in Buffalo, New York that has not made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season.<\/p>\n<p>Washington Capitals<\/p>\n<p>An NHL hockey team based in Washington, D.C. that is a perennial playoff contender.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=Buffalo%2C+NY&amp;city=Buffalo&amp;type=Upload+Story+Photos&amp;headline=Sabres+Aim+to+Clinch+Playoff+Spot+Against+Capitals&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Fny%2Fbuffalo%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F03%2Fsabres-aim-to-clinch-playoff-spot-against-capitals%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a><br \/>\n            What\u2019s next<\/p>\n<p>If the Sabres win or earn an overtime\/shootout loss against the Capitals, they will clinch a playoff berth and end their 14-year postseason drought.<\/p>\n<p>        The takeaway<\/p>\n<p>The Sabres&#8217; quest to return to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade has come down to the final games of the regular season. A win against the Capitals would be a major accomplishment for the team and its long-suffering fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The Sabres&#8217; quest to end their 14-year playoff drought comes&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5114],"tags":[191,5,4,190,109,5222],"class_list":{"0":"post-539359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-capitals","8":"tag-capitals","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-capitals","13":"tag-washingtoncapitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116343426300417405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}