Washington Capitals Hockey
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Sights on a New Target
 For days, if not weeks, the
Washington Capitals
have
been watching the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Carolina
Hurricanes. Those are the teams that the Capitals had the best chance
to catch. Right?
Not anymore. The Ottawa Senators, a team rife with
turmoil these days, are now within Washington's striking distance. And
of the four
teams Washington is chasing, the Sens are the only one the Capitals
hold the head-to-head
tiebreaker over. Washington swept
Ottawa in all four games this season which at the time seeemed like
nothing more than a fluke, but now could mean the difference between
qualifying for the playoffs or not.
While outside help has been far from plentiful over the
past couple weeks, assistance is rearing itself in the form of the
"other
nation's capital." It has been a long slide for Ottawa from the glory
of opening
the season winning 13 of 14 games, the best start in NHL history. The
Senators have now lost five of six and are 13-20-4 (including being
shutout 6 times) since January 13th.
The Senators, like the Caps, have two games left. If the
Capitals go 2-0 and Ottawa goes 1-1, the Caps are in. Simple,
eh?
QUICK
FACTS ABOUT OTTAWA'S 2 REMAINING GAMES:
- Since January, Ottawa is 1-3-0 against Boston while
being outscored 13-5.
- Since November 17, Ottawa is 0-4-0 against Toronto
while being outscored 17-6.
- Boston has points in six straight games while Toronto
has won six of nine. The opposite is true of Ottawa who has lost five
of six.
- The games are back to back - Thursday &
Friday. In Ottawa's last six pairs of back to back games, they are just
2-8-2.
Ottawa stinks right now so they're most likely to be the
team to drop out of the picture, but getting past the Senators is far
from the only way the Capitals can reach the playoffs. If
Washington wins their final two games, here are all the scenarios that
would find the Caps in the postseason:
- Carolina loses in regulation or OT against Florida on Friday.
- Philadelphia loses one of its last two in regulation or OT. (Fri. vs. NJ/Sun. vs. PIT)
- Boston loses one of its last two in regulation or OT. (Fri. @ OTT/Sun. vs. BUF)
- Ottawa loses one of its last two in regulation or OT. (Thur. @ TOR/Fri. vs. BOS)
In fact, if Friday's Boston/Ottawa game is settled in
regulation, the Caps are in. But first, Washington has to beat Tampa
Bay tonight and Florida on Saturday.
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