We have now entered the final month of the regular season. Your Washington Capitals currently sit in the second and final wild card spot with a 37-21-10 record, good for 84 points. If they were to stay in that way and the season were to end at the time you’re reading this article, a first round matchup with either the Florida Panthers or Carolina Hurricanes could happen.
And even though the Capitals are comfortably ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets by 15 points, they are looking to accumulate as much points as possible and put themselves in good playoff position. But it won’t be easy. Navigating through the month of April will be a tall task.
First up they got the Minnesota Wild who just acquired Marc-Andre Fleury at the trade deadline. They’re second in the Central Division and the Fleury upgrade makes their team that much better. Next up you got the Tampa Bay Lightning, also at home so they’ll need the home crowd to have an impact. Always a challenge going up against the back to back Stanley Cup champions.
And if those aren’t challenging enough, next Saturday they head to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins. And that’s just the beginning of a back to back with the second game coming at home against the Wild Card team they’re chasing, the Boston Bruins.
The Caps will get a little bit of a breather the second week of April as they’ll host the Philadelphia Flyers and end the week on the road at the Montreal Canadiens. But sandwiched in between those games on Thursday April 14 is the high flying Toronto Maple Leafs.
Then comes what I believe will be the most challenging part of the month, with the exception against the Arizona Coyotes. That will end the west coast road trip but it’ll begin against the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights, two Western Conference powerhouses.
Then the final week of the regular season includes a home and home against the New York Islanders, easy wins. But those ones on the end, April 24 against the Maple Leafs and the season finale on April 29 against the New York Rangers. Those games could have huge implications on playoff seeding.
Although the playoffs are only a month away, it’s important the Capitals prime themselves in this month of April. It will certainly be a big test which is exactly what a team with Stanley Cup aspirations needs.