Washington Capitals: Three Potential First Round Opponents

The 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner, and the Washington Capitals have punched their ticket to the dance.

The Washington Capitals did so in convincing fashion by winning their fourth-straight division title in the process. This guarantees the Caps home-ice advantage through the first two rounds in their attempt to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. Everything has been determined for them except for one very crucial factor – who will they play? Their options for opponents in the first round right now are the Columbus Blue Jackets (again), the Carolina Hurricanes (welcome back), or…the Pittsburgh Penguins (of course). With all of these teams acting as potential first-round opponents, let’s see how well the Capitals stack up against these opponents

Columbus Blue Jackets

Season Series:

Record: 1-2-1

GFPG: 1.5

GAPG: 1.8

Playoff History:

4-0-2

GFPG: 4.0

GAPG: 3.0

This series would be a rematch of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs’ first-round matchup between the Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets. In this series, Columbus took a 2-0 series lead by winning games one and two in overtime in D.C. Many felt that the Capitals were done after this, myself included. I mean, you can’t lose two games in overtime on home-ice and expect to win a series. As we all know, however, the Caps of last season were very adamant on changing the narrative on how things are supposed to go. Washington stormed back and won four-straight games to move onto the second round of their run-of-destiny to the Stanley Cup.

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As for this season, the Capitals have not looked their sharpest against the Blue Jackets. They have lost three of four meet-ups, with two of those losses coming at Capital One Arena. Their one win against the Jackets came on December 8th in a dominant 4-0 final decision which saw the Caps chase Sergei Bobrovsky from his cage after allowing 3 goals on 13 shots.

If these two foes happen to play each other in the first round, it will not be a very friendly series. Columbus has something to prove after blowing last season’s series lead against the Caps and watching them go on to raise the Cup.

In addition, it appears as though these teams simply do not like each other. Especially after the Columbus Blue Jackets taunted Evgeny Kuznetsov and his use of his signature ‘bird celly’ after Artemi Panarin won their January 12th game in overtime. Expect a hard-hitting, tough series if these teams meet because they are developing into rivals which a back-to-back meet-up in the playoffs would solidify.

Carolina Hurricanes

Season Series:

Record: 4-0-0 (1 SO Win)

GFPG: 4.0

GAPG: 2.3

Playoff History:

N/A

Although the record states that Washington should dominate the Carolina Hurricanes and potentially even sweep them, they would still need to be careful. This is a Hurricanes team who hasn’t seen Stanley Cup Playoff hockey in 10 seasons and will be hungry to prove that it is no fluke that they made it in this year. This is a team that reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the 2016/2017 postseason. They are a young, fast team who is not supposed to be in the playoffs but managed to squeak their way in. Although they are the lesser of three evils, they can surprise the Caps in the very same way the Leafs did if the Capitals decide to take it too easy on their opponent.

Washington was able to take down the ‘bunch of jerks’ in all 4 games they played against them this season, though not all of them were easy. Their first win over the Canes came in a 6-5 shootout victory back in December. Their most recent 3-2 victory was a 3rd-period comeback by the Caps in order to clinch their postseason berth. So yes, the record shows that the Capitals will walk-all-over the Hurricanes and move onto whoever their second-round opponent may be. However, games can be a lot closer than the score indicates and that’s something that the Capitals and their fans need to keep in mind if they do happen to play Carolina in the first round.

With no previous playoff history, this series would indicate the first time that the Capitals and Hurricanes had met in the postseason. This would also be the third consecutive postseason in which the Capitals play a first-round opponent that they have never played in the playoffs before (Toronto, Columbus and Carolina). So, although the Capitals would be making history by playing the Canes for the first time, in order to be on the right side of history they would need to ensure that they don’t take their opponent lightly.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Season Series:

Record: 1-2-1

GFPG: 3.0

GAPG: 3.8

Playoff History:

Record: 28-40

GFPG: 2.9

GAPG: 3.1

Well…it’s possible. Somehow, and some way it’s possible. The Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins could play each other in the first round. This is the last thing that Caps fans want for the simple reason that no matter how good Washington is, Pittsburgh always seems to find a way to beat them. They have had their number for what seems like forever with one of the only bright spots in their history coming last year in Washington’s six-game triumph over the Penguins in the second round. The other bright spot coming in their series in 1994 in which the Caps also took in 6 games. Other than that, however, the Pens are 9-2 in their playoff history with the Capitals and have sent them packing in the second round in two of the past three postseasons en route to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Their dominance hasn’t just come in the postseason, however, as the Penguins won the season series against the Capitals with the same record as the Blue Jackets, 3-1-0. Washington’s only win came on November 7th in an emotional 2-1 come-from-behind victory where T.J. Oshie left the game twice with different injuries and returned to score the game-winning goal late in the 3rd period. In order for Washington to be successful against the Pens, they’ll need the heart that Oshie displayed back in November throughout their potential series, as opposed to their most recent effort on March 12th, which showed the Caps blow a 2-goal lead en route to a 5-3 defeat.

With Washington getting over the hump last season, it helped show the Capitals and their fans that it is possible to defeat the big-bad Penguins. They do bleed. However, it’s still bloody difficult, and a task that will require some serious mental preparation from the Capitals and Caps-fans alike if they happen to meet in the first round. Washington needs to forget about past-playoff failures against the Penguins, and also forget about last-season’s success against the Penguins, and take a possible first-round series one game at-a-time.

Conclusion

No matter who they play, the Capitals are going to have to turn in a serious effort in order to try to defend their Stanley Cup. Regardless of who they play, no opponent should be taken lightly. Every team offers their shares of strengths that the Caps need to prepare to defend against. It is the Stanley Cup Playoffs and every team is here for a reason.

With that being said, I feel I speak for myself, and the rest of Capitals fans when I say we would prefer if Washington played Carolina in the first round. Although the regular-season series doesn’t matter, knowing that the Capitals beat them 4 out of 4 games affords a bit more confidence heading into the first round. Again, I think I speak for all Caps fans when I say we would prefer if Washington did not play Pittsburgh in the first round. Starting off the playoffs against the Pens is overwhelming mentally and something that would be better-served as a second-round series for the Capitals. It gives them time to get adjusted to playoff hockey before they are thrown in the ring against a team who is well-known for their playoff success – especially against the Caps.

Whoever the Capitals end up battling in the first round, it is bound to be an exciting series. Now it’s time to figure out who ‘whoever’ is.