One could say that the Washington Capitals started holding their breath from the moment Alex Ovechkin gave them a 1-0 lead just 26 seconds into tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals managed to hang on through next three periods and overtime, only allowing Claude Giroux’s game-tying goal before ultimately succumbing to Philly in the shootout.
Either way, the Capitals can now exhale after a challenging road trip. Really, Washington’s five-game road trip (2-2-1) might be a good barometer of whether or not a given Caps fan is a glass-half-full type, too.
The good news
On the bright side, the Capitals bounced back from a tough loss to the Jets in Winnipeg to salvage what looked like a four-game losing streak waiting to happen. Sure, they lost a rough game against the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2, but then they beat the Red Wings in Detroit and squeezed a charity point out of tonight’s game against red-hot Ilya Bryzgalov and the always-tough Philadelphia Flyers.
Oh yeah, Ovechkin’s 33rd goal already eclipses his tally total from last season, so that’s a plus, too.
Negative side
Of course, there’s also the missed opportunities. Losing to the Jets will burn if they can’t win their last meeting against Winnipeg and negative types might question Washington’s “killer instinct.” Did they settle for overtime instead of trying to go for the jugular in regulation?
To some, it’ll be hard to shake the feeling that the Capitals are content to “back in” to the playoffs - if that works, that is.
What lies ahead
By getting through that gauntlet with their playoff status currently intact, they’re in line to put themselves in a comfortable position - but they’ll need to win some big games.
That starts tomorrow, as the Capitals face the Jets in Washington. From there they need to kick the Minnesota when they’re down and then beat another bubble contender in the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday to wrap-up a huge three-game homestand.
After that, they’ll travel to Boston to face the Bruins, host the Montreal Canadiens, face the Lightning in Tampa Bay, play a home game against the Florida Panthers and then finish the season against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The odds
Sports Club Stats indicates that the Capitals took a baby step toward the playoffs with this win. Their playoff odds jumped 1.9 percent to 74.8 while Buffalo is down 1.1 percent to 22.9 and Winnipeg slips .3 percent to just 9.2.
Naturally, those upcoming games between both teams could drastically change the picture. The big plus side for the Capitals is that those matches will take place in Washington, but they’re still going to need to come up big with the spotlight shining on them more than any regular season contests in recent memory.