Washington Capitals Hockey
Monday, March 17, 2008
Weekend in Review/The Week Ahead
This weekend was much more kind to the Washington
Capitals than the previous one, and they needed it. Three straight wins
against Calgary, Atlanta, and Boston have solidified the Caps position
in the race for eighth and kept them within shouting distance of the
Southeast Division title.
It's been a busy weekend for all the teams who are
jockeying for playoff position. So let's dive in, see what the weekend
brought, and make some sense of where the Capitals stand as they head
out for a six game tour of the midwest and southeast.
As evidenced in the chart, Washington picked up four
points, the most possible. They gained 2 points on Carolina for the
division and 3 points on Philadelphia for the eighth seed. But the
Capitals are not alone (at least for one weekend) as all the teams
trying to play catchup have done so to perfection. The teams on top
were the flawed of the bunch, intensifying the playoff race as everyone
playing catchup was able to move closer.
With fewer than 10 games remaining, it's all about the
scoreboard watching, something we haven't been able to do here since
2002-03. There's still a lot of hockey to be played and so many
variables remain. It's clearly too early for any of these teams to feel
comfort that their season will extend into Spring. Likewise, nobody is
thinking about their summer vacation just yet.
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