Wednesday Tank Watch: Your open thread for tonight's NHL action

Seven games featured at least one lottery candidate on Tuesday night, and the final results were just about as bad as they could possibly have been for a Montreal Canadiens team trying to improve their draft position.

The Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Arizona Coyotes, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames all failed to earn a point by losing in regulation.The Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators did manage to win their games; they did so by beating one of the teams in that first group.

The Columbus Blue Jackets got the only positive result for a lottery team that was matching up with a club in a playoff position, taking the Detroit Red Wings to a shootout, and earning another point in their recent run.

Montreal sits 22nd in the overall standings. They won't move up with a win tonight; they can't drop any further with a loss.

The Canadiens play one of only two games with lottery implication on a slow Wednesday evening in the NHL.

7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST

Montreal Canadiens

Host: Washington Capitals
Record: 28-27-5
Position: 13th in Eastern Conference; 22nd overall
Ideal result: 5-4 regulation win for WSH
How to watch: RDS, Sportsnet E/O/W/P/Now

Be sure to check out our preview of tonight Habs-Caps game, and follow along in our game thread.

10:30 PM EST / 7:30 PM PST

Buffalo Sabres

Host: Anaheim Ducks
Record: 24-29-7
Position: 15th in East; 27th overall
Ideal result: Win for BUF
How to watch: BellTV
The Sabres have been fairly good of late (by the standards of the teams that are resigned to an early end of the season) with 13 points in their last eleven games, and held a four-game point streak before a 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their last game.

Buffalo can move up two positions to 25th overall with a two-point result, and could be just four points behind Montreal if the Washington Capitals extend their win streak to five with a regulation victory.