Through three games of their West Coast road trip, the Washington Capitals have been outscored by a combined score of 11 to 4. But on Thursday, the Capitals pulled out a narrow 2-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken — their first ever win against the franchise in Washington state.
The victory came at a crucial moment too, keeping the Capitals’ once dim playoff hopes alive.
Benefitting from regulations losses by the New York Islanders and the Detroit Red Wings on the same night, the Capitals are back in the thick of it.
“We’re f***ing one point out of this thing,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said in his victory speech. “We are right f***ing there once again.”
According to Money Puck, the Capitals (71 points in 65 games) now have a 20.1 percent chance of making the postseason after pulling within one point out of the second and final wild card in the East — the Detroit Red Wings (72 pts. in 66 GP) and the New York Islanders (72 pts. in 65 GP). HockeyViz gives even rosier odds of 30.1 percent.
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The Capitals are also battling for the wild card spot with the Buffalo Sabres (69 pts. in 67 GP), New Jersey Devils (68 pts. in 66 GP), and the fading Pittsburgh Penguins (67 pts. in 65 GP).
They have another angle, too. The Capitals are within five points and have two games in-hand on the Philadelphia Flyers, who own the third guaranteed playoff spot out of the Metropolitan Division (76 pts. in 67 games).
While the Capitals are back in the conversation, the reality is still harsh — hence why their odds remain so low. The team has the second-hardest remaining schedule in the NHL, facing teams that have a combined .593 points percentage.
The Capitals still have difficult matchups with the Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins (2), Winnipeg Jets, Carolina Hurricanes (2), Toronto Maple Leafs (2), and Tampa Bay Lightning remaining.
Per RMNB’s Peter Hassett, the average points pace of Caps’ opponents for the next month is 103.6, and for the entire rest of the season only Montreal has a harder schedule.
Regardless of what happens, this Capitals team will go down for their grit and for finding ways to win — despite the roster’s aging core and their goal differential (-31) ranking sixth-worst in the league. The team has also remained competitive despite Brian MacLellan dealing three of the club’s veterans at the deadline: Anthony Mantha (VGK), Joel Edmundson (TOR), and Evgeny Kuznetsov (CAR).
“Really inspiring effort by our guys tonight. I thought we played extremely hard and did all the right things,” Charlie Lindgren said after Thursday’s win. “I think we have a lot of belief in this room that we can get it done.”
