The Washington Capitals need to win out and enjoy a staggering array of breaks to make the playoffs, but they at least did their part on Tuesday, handling the St. Louis Blues to a tune of a 4-1 win.
It was the kind of victory that left many Capitals fans and writers wondering, “Where has this team been all this time?”
Cool that it basically took 'til Game 79 for the Caps to put six top-six Fs in the top-six and six bottom-six Fs in the bottom-six.
— Japers’ Rink (@JapersRink) April 9, 2014
... And left St. Louis fans booing a team that is now on its first three-game losing streak of the season:
#stlblues getting booed off the ice.
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) April 9, 2014
Oh yeah, if that’s not enough for Blues fans, it appears that David Backes might have a foot injury. Updates were scarce on Tuesday, so that might be something we learn more about it later on.
Circling back to the Capitals’ desperate playoff run, the good news is that they won; the bad news is that the teams ahead of them also almost uniformly improved their leads (most notably the wild card teams). The Detroit Red Wings handled the Buffalo Sabres while the Columbus Blue Jackets managed a spirited overtime win against the even-more-desperate Phoenix Coyotes. Washington basically needs to win out and have at least one of these teams more or less collapse to make it to the playoffs.
See for yourself:
There are now only four teams who can mathematically end up with the two final East spots: Detroit, Columbus, Washington and the New Jersey Devils (who are hanging on by even less of a thread).
The Capitals can top out at 91 standings points, 39 wins and 29 regulation/overtime wins. Want an idea of how likely that may be? Here are the four teams’ closing schedules:
Detroit: Wednesday - at Pittsburgh, Friday - vs. Carolina and Sunday - at St. Louis
Columbus: Wednesday - at Dallas, Friday - at Tampa Bay, Saturday - at Florida
Washington: Thursday - at Carolina, Friday - vs. Chicago, Sunday - vs. Tampa Bay
New Jersey: Thursday - at Ottawa, Friday - vs. NY Islanders, Sunday - vs. Boston
Could Washington finish ahead of at least two of those teams when it’s all over? It’s not impossible, it’s just improbable. They at least kept that door open on Tuesday night, though.
Related: Flyers clinch spot; Maple Leafs, Senators and Hurricanes bow out