The Washington Capitals are first in the Eastern Conference at the 4 Nations break and also occupy first place in the Metropolitan Division. Next up for the Caps is a Saturday afternoon game at the Pittsburgh Penguins at 3 p.m. on ABC and ESPN plus.
Here are the NHL standings by order of conference. We'll start with the west and finish with the east.
Western Conference
Winnipeg Jets 39-14-3 with 81 points
Dallas Stars 35-18-2 72 points
Edmonton Oilers 34-17-4 72 points
Vegas Golden Knights 33-17-6 72 points
Minnesota Wild 33-19-4 70 points
Colorado Avalanche 33-22-2 68 points
Los Angeles Kings 29-17-7 65 points
Vancouver Canucks 26-18-11 63 points
Calgary Flames 26-21-8 60 points
Utah Hockey Club 24-23-9 57 points
St. Louis Blues 25-26-5 55 points
Anaheim Ducks 24-24-6- 54 points
Seattle Kraken 24-29-4 52 points
Nashville Predators 19-28-7 45 points
Chicago Blackhawks 17-31-7 41 points
San Jose Sharks 15-35-7 37 points
Eastern Conference
Washington Capitals 36-11-8 with 80 points
Florida Panthers 34-20-3 71 points
Carolina Hurricanes 33-19-4 70 points
Toronto Maple Leafs 33-20-2 68 points
New Jersey Devils 31-20-6 68 points
Tampa Bay Lightning 31-20-4 66 points
Ottawa Senators 29-23-4 62 points
Detroit Red Wings 28-22-5 61 points
Columbus Blue Jackets 26-22-8 60 points
Boston Bruins 27-24-6 60 points
New York Rangers 27-24-4 58 points
New York Islanders 25-23-7 57 points
Montreal Canadiens 25-26-5 55 points
Pittsburgh Penguins 23-25-9 55 points
Philadelphia Flyers 24-26-7 55 points
Buffalo Sabres 22-27-5 49 points
The Caps sit up 10 points over the second place Carolina Hurricanes in the Metro Division and 12 points ahead of the third place New Jersey Devils. They are also nine points ahead of Atlantic Division leading Florida Panthers and just one point behind the NHL leading Winnipeg Jets.
If and that's a big if, the season ended today, the Caps would play host to the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs as they occupy the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
If the Caps were to play the Red Wings that would be a rivalry in itself. It wasn't really a rivalry when they met in the Stanley Cup Final in 1998. But this time the teams are in the ssame conference which makes the series even more win or go home. But the Caps could also potentially face the Ottawa Senators as the Red Wings are just a point back of them for the top spot in the Eastern Conference wild card spot.
This puts teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins on the outside looking in. That was order of succession and the Penguins are six points behind the Red Wings for that second wild card spot.
The Blue Jackets and Bruins are even more neck and neck than the Rangers, Islanders, Canadiens, and Penguins which makes things even crazier at this part of the season. The Capitals are in a healthy spot for the second half and no pun intended need to remain mostly healthy after the 4 Nations break as other than T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom on LTIR, it's been Sonny Milano who's been out for a long time.