Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich has an idea of what it will take to get to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
CSNWashington.com’s Chuck Gormley spoke with the Caps’ alternate captain and gets their target number to shoot for to make a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Anything less than 92 you’re going to need a major stroke of luck to get in,” Laich predicted. “I think that’s the absolute cutoff point. As you get a point or two or three above that, your chances get exponentially better.”
If that point total sounds familiar to fans in Washington, it’s what the Caps finished with in the 2011-2012 season to get into the playoffs then. The Caps and Ottawa Senators each finished with 92 points that season, but the Caps had the tiebreaker to get the seventh seed. Washington went on to oust the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs that season.
In seasons previous to that, the high-80s to low-90s were what got teams in the postseason. While the Eastern Conference has been bad this season, it’ll turn into “Lord Of The Flies” down the stretch as teams fight to get in the playoffs.
With the new wild card spots, it’ll open things up to be a wild finish for the final two spots. A race not unlike what we’ve seen in the past.