Head Coach Lindy Ruff said he will split the lineup between rookies and veterans in Buffalo' first preseason game of the year against the Washington Capitals.

		HSBC Arena, Buffalo NY, 7 p.m. LIVE audio on WGR 550 and sabres.com
		Tickets: 9/17 vs. Washington
		Lindy Ruff: Audio | Video
		Tyler Myers: Audio | Video
		Tim Kennedy: Audio | Video
		Video: Chris Butler
		Link: Game Notes vs. Washington
		Link: Interactive Depth Chart
		Link: Travelling to the Arena

Goaltending will also be split with Jhonas Enroth and Patrick Lalime getting the nod between the pipes.

"We changed some things with our system. We want to make sure that everybody is on the same page with that," Ruff said. "First and foremost it’s making sure we’re ready to play. Secondly it’s taking a look at enough kids to see exactly where they’re at."

Buffalo opened camp on Saturday at HSBC Arena, using the first four day of training to engage in a round-robin scrimmage tournament. The internal competition finished on Wednesday , with Team Khmylev defeating Team Fleming in the championship by a score of 3-1.

Tim Connolly led all players with 6 points (1+5)… Nathan Gerbe was the leading goal scorer with 3.






FORWARDS: Tyler Ennis, Nathan Gerbe, Philip Gogulla, Jochen Hecht, Tim Kennedy, Clarke MacArthur, Cody McCormick, Daniel Paille, jason Pominville, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, Thomas Vanek
 
DEFENSE: Chris Butler, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Mike Kostka, Tyler Myers, Andrej Sekera, Mike Weber

GOALIES: Jhonas Enroth, Patrick Lalime

Ruff worked on special teams in the morning skate at HSBC Arena. Tyler Myers and Chris Butler were paired together at the point on the first power play unit, while Andrej Sekera and Marc-Andre Gragnani were on the blueline for the second unit. The special teams combinations at practice were as follows:

POWER PLAY UNITS:
Jason Pominville - Tyler Ennis - Thomas Vanek - Tyler Myers - Chris Butler
Drew Stafford - Derek Roy - Clarke MacArthur - Andrej Sekera - Marc-Andre Gragnani

PENALTY KILL UNITS:
Tim Kennedy - Cody McCormick - Chris Butler - Mike Weber
Nathan Gerbe - Philip Gogulla - Daniel Paille - Jochen Hecht

INJURIES: Matt Generous was seen wearing a cast on his left leg at HSBC Arena on Tuesday. The defenseman was sent to the hospital for stitches Monday after getting his ankle sliced by a skate during the scrimmage. It is questionable whether or not he can skate Thursday.

"He does have a fairly deep cut. We’re just waiting," Ruff said. "He’s going to see a foot specialist to see exactly where he’s at. Obviously he had to miss today. There is some thinking that he could skate tomorrow, but he could miss some time so we’re just getting a second opinion by a specialist."

NOTES: Buffalo and Washington have played 25 preseason games all-time… The Sabres hold a 15-10 advantage… 18 of the 25 pre-season games between the Sabres and Capitals have been played at neutral site venues… The Sabres are 4-1 at home; 1-1 in Washington… These two teams haven’t met in the pre-season since 2005, when the Sabres went 2-0 (3-2 OT @ Buffalo, Sept. 17; 4-0 @ Washington, Sept. 21)… The first regular season meeting between the Sabres and Capitals is Wed., Nov. 25 in Washington

The Sabres are 129-145-47 all-time in the preseason… Buffalo is 16-9-1 in preseason action since the start of the 2005-06 season.

The Washington Capitals' 2008-09 season was capped by an Eastern Conference Semi Finals appearance against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Although the Caps lost in seven games to the Stanley Cup Champions in seven games, the playoff run marked their most successful campaign since 1998. 

Alexander Ovechkin captured the Hart Trophy for his performance in the regular season. Ovechkin led the league with 56 goals and was second with 110 points.

NAME	GP	G	A	+/-	PTS
Ovechkin	79	56	54	8	110
Backstrom	82	22	66	16	88
Semin	62	34	45	25	79
Green	68	31	42	24	73
Laich	82	23	30	-1	53

GOALIE	W	L	OT	SV%	GAA
Johnson	12	6	2	.908	2.81
Theodore	32	17	5	.900	2.87