Capitals' Loss to Flyers Erases Wiggle Room to Win East Division

Capitals’ loss to Flyers erases wiggle room to win division originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

All season long there’s been a familiar refrain — as there typically is — from players and coaches on the Capitals that emphasized keeping focused on one day at a time. 

Now, there has to be a multiple-day outlook for the Capitals as their season comes down to the finish line. To win the East Division, they’ll likely need to take both of their final two games in regulation.

With a 4-2 loss to the Flyers on Friday at Capital One Arena, the Capitals’ wiggle room, for the time being, has evaporated. If they want to win the division for the sixth season in a row, the only way to guarantee that right now is to beat the Flyers and Bruins in regulation Saturday and Tuesday. 

“They’re big points for us that we let get by here,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “Can’t be any excuses. You can give the old adage of whatever you want, but at the end of the day, we needed to be better. I just thought we were on our heels too much.”

The Capitals (73 points) are now in second in the wildly crowded East Division standings with two games left to play. They trail the Penguins (75 points) by two points, who have one game left to play. The Capitals lead the Bruins (71 points) by two points, who have three games left to play. The Islanders, with 68 points, are almost certainly destined for fourth place. 

The Penguins will conclude their regular season tomorrow against the Sabres in the afternoon, meaning the Capitals will know exactly what they need to do in their final two games to take the division once again when they hit the ice. Puck drop against the Flyers is scheduled for 7pm on NBC Sports Washington.

"I think there were times in the game where we were the better team and there were times where we put our foot off the gas and they had their chances,” forward Daniel Sprong said. “We know playoffs is coming up and that's not how we want to play, so I think all of us in that room know what we've got to do tomorrow and leave it at that."

Against the Flyers, the Capitals concluded their hectic past few days with stretches of inconsistency and mistakes they haven't shown of late. To beat the Flyers in the rematch in less than 24 hours, they’ll have to rectify that.

“Those aren't types of games that we want to have at this point in the year,” forward T.J. Oshie said. “It should be the exact opposite, I think, of our start, so we'll have to learn from that and talk about it and watch video and change the way we started the game tomorrow night.”

There is still a scenario where a Penguins loss to the Sabres, or a win in overtime/shootout, can lessen the burden on the Capitals and what they need to accomplish in the final two games. But with the Penguins facing the last-place Sabres, that appears unlikely for the time being and certainly not a hypothetical anyone can count on.

The NHL’s tie-breaking procedure is: Regulation wins, regulation/overtime wins and total wins. Right now, the Penguins have 28 regulation wins, 33 regulation/overtime wins and 36 total wins. The Capitals have 28 regulation wins, 31 regulation/overtime wins and 34 total wins. 

Should the Penguins take care of business tomorrow afternoon in regulation, as expected, the Capitals would win the first tiebreaker against the Penguins with two more regulation wins of their own. If the wins are not in regulation, Washington cannot reach Pittsburgh in the second and third tiebreakers. Should the Capitals lose in any fashion, or even win in overtime or a shootout in the final two games, the division title will go to Pittsburgh.

In short, the Capitals can even finish with the same amount of points as the Penguins as long as they have more regulation wins. Otherwise, the road for the Capitals to get to the NHL's final four runs through Pittsburgh.

It doesn’t take much for the Capitals and their fans to root for Penguins losses, but now, that feels a bit more pronounced. 

The Capitals have also not wrapped up the second seed, and thus home-ice, in the first round of the playoffs just yet. The Bruins can still reach 77 points with games against the Rangers, Islanders and Capitals to finish the season. Not only is there a possibility the Capitals don’t win the division, but there’s also one that means they'll start the playoffs on the road in Boston.

All of that is not lost on the Capitals, who were focused on the crucial two points entering Friday’s game against the Flyers, but now, that’s the most important storyline of the season.

“We were focused on it tonight, but what we were saying and what we were doing were two different things,” Laviolette said. “We’ll talk about it and get ready for tomorrow.”

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