The Washington Capitals will go into the final two games of the 2023-24 season controlling their own destiny.
After a huge 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the Capitals moved into the second wild card spot in the East.
If they can defeat the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers in a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday, they are guaranteed to make the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. TWO WINS, THEY’RE IN.
The Capitals got into this fortunate spot as the Boston Bruins delivered a 6-4 regulation loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. With Pittsburgh’s untimely L, the Capitals (87 standings points) leaped over the Pens (86) and jumped into WC2 by one standings point.
The Capitals are tied with the Detroit Red Wings (87) and Philadelphia Flyers (87) — both teams won tonight — but Washington holds the regulation wins tiebreaker over Detroit (30 to 27) and the points percentage tiebreaker over the Flyers (.544 to .537).
The Capitals, Red Wings, and Penguins all have two games remaining while the Flyers only have one — against the Caps on Tuesday.
