CAPITALS 101

Does anybody want to win the Southeast Division?

After yesterday's 5-0 debacle in Carolina, the Washington Capitals will still have a chance to salvage a four game road trip by moving into a playoff spot and tying the division lead with a victory in Ottawa tomorrow night.

It may appear bad that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets each gained a point by virtue of their 4-3 and 5-4 overtime losses, respectively. However, it was a great result considering the Jets were up 4-3 with ten seconds remaining against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Maple Leafs ripped a post in overtime before losing to the New Jersey Devils.

Although Brooks Laich said the Caps needed to win at least three games on this trip, just two will be enough to vault the Caps past the Leafs and Jets for the eighth playoff spot and tie the Florida Panthers for the division lead. (The Panthers will have played two less games)

Just how lucky are these Caps getting? (Michael Hoffman of the Washington Times has gone into great detail about that)

Now comes the most important part: winning.

If the Caps are able to defeat the Ottawa Senators tomorrow, it would give them a huge boost coming back to the Verizon Center Friday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

Perhaps even better?

The Maple Leafs have to play against the San Jose Sharks and the Jets have to square off with the scorching Tampa Bay Lightning in their next games, both on Thursday. Also, the Florida Panthers will attempt to end its three game losing streak on Thursday against Niklas Backstrom (the goalie) and the Minnesota Wild, who shutout the Boston Bruins 2-0 on Sunday.

There may be hope in this Washington Capitals season yet.

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