Washington Capitals: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Washington Capitals Stanley Cup Round Robin.

While the Stanley Cup Qualifying Playoff Round gets stared at noontime today, with the first matchup being the NY Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes (Jerks), the Washington Capitals will enjoy having a few more days off and hoping to get John Carlson back in the lineup after a nasty fall in the teams first exhibition game against the Hurricanes July 29.

It’s no surprise the Captain left off from where he ended the shortened season before the Country shutdown, with two goals and an assist. We just keep asking ourselves when will he slow down and just when we say, “Ok, there’s no way he reaches 40, let alone 45 to 50 goals again,” he does.

As the Capitals prepare to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday at 4p.m. EST, I took a look back at the two squads and the Capitals handled them pretty well, winning all three matchups pre-pandemic, outscoring the Lightning 12-6.

Of course it’s a different season right now and anything can happen especially with with teams that were below the playoff line.

Game 1: Rangers Vs. Hurricanes

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The problem I have with this game is there’s one team that doesn’t belong in the playoffs and that’s the Rangers. They were the 11th best team in the entire eastern conference and letting a team like them into the playoffs just gives them a pass for not being good enough to make the postseason in a regular formatted NHL playoff season.

All during the discussion of the NHL reformatting their playoff seeding and allowing a team like the Rangers who are below the playoff line, and if you don’t understand what I mean by below the line, go ask a huge sports fan, what does below the playoff line mean and they’ll tell you.

However, if your wondering who do I like in this series, I like the Hurricanes. Here’s why, their young players showed allot of grit and determination during the 2019 playoffs against the Capitals and you could just see how much faster they were during that series. Yeah, it went 7-games, but younger and faster players can beat a great like the Capitals and they did. Also, they a tone of players who can score those gritty goals that you will need to win a short series like this one.

So, I’ll say, this series goes five games and the Hurricanes win it in OT. Sorry Rangers fans, but you’ll have to come back next year and try again.

Game 1: Blackhawks Vs Oilers

The exciting thing about this matchup is, we get to see another team that wasn’t above the playoff line prove me right again. I’m just not a fan of teams playing in the playoffs if you’re the no. 12 seed. But, I won’t talk too much on that because who cares what I think, the seasons back and that’s all that matters.

Now, picking who I think will win this series and I think you can predict who I’m going with. The Blackhawks tried to make a run, but ending the season as the twelfth best team in the eastern conference just won’t be enough. Sure, we can look at Towes and Kane score goals and make some defenders look silly, but I’m sorry, Connor McDavid alone will run circles around them and cause problems for the Blackhawks. I do think the Hawks give the Oilers a push, but it’s just not enough to win the Series.