The Washington Capitals are getting closer to when their quest to back-to-back intensifies at it’s peak.
Just two more games stand between them and the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs and right now the team is in the driver’s seat, sitting at the top of the Metropolitan Division. With a 47-25-8 mark with 102 points, Washington is three points ahead of the New York Islanders. With the Pittsburgh Penguins faltering to the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday night, the Capitals will clinch home ice advantage in at least the first round. They won’t finish worse than second in the Metropolitan Division. This will come down to the Capitals and Islanders.
Let’s take a look at both of their remaining games. Each team plays on Thursday night. The Capitals will come home to host the Montreal Canadiens in the penultimate game of the regular season. Like facing the Florida Panthers on Monday, this will be a different Capitals team the Canadiens are dealing with put perhaps even more so. The last time these teams met came in November, twice in Montreal. The Capitals dropped the first game on Nov. 1 6-4 but rebounded to win the rematch on the 19th 5-4 thanks to a Lars Eller overtime goal.
But the Capitals will also see a different Canadiens team. One that is fighting for their playoff lives. They’re on the outside looking in for the wild card but not by that much. They actually have 94 points like the Columbus Blue Jackets, it’s just the latter is the one that is occupying the second and final wild card spot. We will see a desperate Habs team on Thursday and the Capitals need to show up for 60 minutes, something they didn’t do Monday night.
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Monday night resulted in a 5-3 loss to the Panthers and guess who the Islanders are playing? Surprise, surprise. It’s the Panthers in Florida. The Panthers are 10 points out of the wild card so for both the Capitals and the Islanders, these matchups with Florida are the equivalent of a trap game. The Capitals lost theirs and now the Islanders are up to enter the ring.
The Islanders are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs which ended a two-game winning streak. Depending on what goes down in Washington or Florida on Thursday night, the stage will be interesting on Saturday night. Both the Capitals and the Islanders will meet in the regular season finale. Say the Capitals lose Thursday while the Islanders win. That scenario would depict this contest as the game that decides the Metropolitan Division. Now say both teams lose Thursday, that would make this contest a game both teams would want to get over with.
It also might be the case if both teams win on Thursday. If the Capitals lost Thursday and the Islanders get a point from forcing overtime, then the Islanders could tie the Capitals for points with a win on Saturday in regulation. Things get even dicier if that happens because it would even the season series at two games apiece.
Bottom line, the Capitals need to win either Thursday or Saturday. Doing so locks up the Metropolitan Division.