There is less than a month left until the end of the National Hockey League regular season. For now, the most interesting situation has developed in the Eastern Conference, where the Washington Capitals are still desperately fighting for access to the playoffs. I wonder if the management of the capital club could have imagined a similar situation at a time when, at the deadline, they were actively parting ways with the main hockey players and, in fact, organizing a sale.
Then defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Anthony Mantha left the Capitals. At the same time, but for slightly different reasons, the capital organization parted ways with Evgeny Kuznetsov. His departure was dictated by other factors, but the renewal of the contracts of Edmundson and Mantha indicated almost directly that the Capitals themselves did not believe in the reality of fighting to enter the Stanley Cup this season.
But suddenly everything changed. The competitors began to suffer defeat after defeat en masse, the youth of Washington took advantage of the opportunity presented to them to secure a place in the lineup, and the team captain, Alexander Ovechkin, caught the smell of the cup and began to score, as if he were at his best. years. Now the fate of the playoff berth is entirely in the hands of Ovechkin and his much younger partners.
Related materials
Ovechkin is reborn! Why did he score so many goals again in the NHL?
Let us remember that according to the structure of the NHL season, at the end of the regular season, eight teams from each conference advance to the playoffs. At the same time, the three best teams in each division receive tickets to the cup and two more clubs get a wild card. Here the division is no longer important, only the number of points scored matters. Therefore, situations often arise when five teams from one division and three from another make the playoffs.
Washington plays in the Metropolitan Division, in which currently only two teams can have no doubts about their cup prospects: the New York Rangers (98 points) and the Carolina Hurricanes (95 points) lead by a wide margin, and in the same In the near future, they will officially bet on continuing the season in the playoffs.
Philadelphia Flyers (81 points after 71 games)
Then everything is much more interesting. In third place is one of the biggest discoveries of the entire NHL season, the Philadelphia Flyers. Pilots head coach John Tortorella is doing an excellent job, managing to stay in the playoff zone with the most average roster possible. The American specialist was not even embarrassed by the loss of main goalkeeper Carter Hart, who is now worried about other things besides hockey. Even in his absence, the Flyers did not fall apart, but continued to steadily put up points, seeing such surprising victories as in their last game against the Boston Bruins (3-2), when Tyson Foerster, spending his first full season in the NHL, he threw and hit for a minute and a half before the end of regulation time.
John Tortorella, head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers
Photo: Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP/TASS
The Flyers have 10 games left until the end of the regular season. Moderate schedule. On the one hand, there are three games with the leaders of the Eastern Conference: two with the Rangers and one with the Florida Panthers. There are also games with direct competitors: the New York Islanders and Washington. On the other hand, there are games left with the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks. Taking into account the existing delay in the table and the schedules of the competitors, there is an opinion that at least 10 points scored before the end of the regular season will guarantee Philadelphia’s participation in the playoffs.
Tampa Bay Lightning (83 points after 70 games)
If you are surprised that Tampa, which scored 83 points, ranks below Philadelphia, which has 81 points, then you did not carefully read the previous part of the material. The fact is that the Lightning play in another division, and in it they are located outside the top 3. Therefore, John Cooper’s team is fighting for a ticket to the playoffs through a wild card and will almost certainly get it .
Although one of the best NHL clubs of recent times now has many playing problems that do not allow the team to perform at the usual stable level, it is still impossible to imagine that Lightning does not have enough attacking potential to reach the playoffs. Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman are still ready to destroy any defense for the most part, and Andrei Vasilevskiy will not allow obvious and serial failure on the back line.
Andrey Vasilevsky
Photo: AP/TASS
In the last 10 games, Cooper’s team has won six and lost twice outside of regulation. This is a work schedule, the continuation of which will surely take the Lightning to the eighth cup. And the distance with the nearest pursuer is already very serious. The Lightning have a quite varied schedule ahead of them, with games that are more difficult than simple. But the thing about this Tampa team is that you never know when they’re going to come together and play their best game.
Related materials
Kucherov will break one of the main records of the Russian NHL. He is already among the top 3 in the ranking.
Detroit Red Wings (78 points after 71 games)
The “Red Wings” were very disappointed by the recent streak of seven consecutive losses, which, in fact, gave hope to the Washington Cup. During the disastrous stretch, Detroit didn’t even make it to overtime, thanks to which the Capitals returned to the playoff race. The return of Dylan Larkin helped the Red Wings start winning, but now pure math works in favor of the Capitals, who are already ahead of Detroit in points lost.
One of the key matches in the cup dispute between the two American clubs will take place in a few days (March 27), when Detroit hosts Washington at home. A victory in regulation time would allow the Red Wings to regain control of the situation, while a different scenario would be a good option for the Capitals. After the head-to-head confrontation, the teams will play another six or seven games to meet again in the territory of the “red wings”. Most likely, the outcome of these two meetings will largely determine who will be ranked higher in the Eastern Conference.
Washington Capitals (77 points after 69 games)
Meanwhile, Washington is one point behind Detroit and has two games in hand. The capital will host one of them today with the Winnipeg Jets. Then, Ovechkin and company find themselves in a very difficult schedule, with back-to-back meetings with Detroit, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. And at the end of the regular season, the “capitalists” will have dates with the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa and again with Boston.
Washington Calendar.
It will be extremely difficult to put points scored in such encounters into action, so to make the playoffs, Washington simply needs to beat Detroit twice. And it is advisable to do it during normal hours. Four points out of a possible four will give Spencer Carbery’s team a kind of airbag, which will force Detroit to perform a miracle, whose schedule is not a walk down the embankment either.
The Capitals’ problem is the goal line. Nominally, the first number of the American club, Darcy Camper, completely collapsed in the second part of the season, first resoundingly losing the competition to Charlie Lindgren and then failing to cope even with the role of his understudy. In turn, Lindgren, 30, had never faced such a playing load before and in the last two games he floated a little, starting to fail a lot. If Charlie can regain the playing condition he showed in early March, then the Capitals’ situation will improve.
New York Islanders (75 points after 70 games)
The Islanders have been on a remarkable stretch over the last month, first putting themselves back in a great position to save their season and then making their situation very difficult again. Patrick Roy’s team had a streak of six consecutive victories, which was later replaced by a similar series of defeats. Now the “islanders” still have a chance to be among the top eight in the cup, but to do this they not only need to win themselves, but also wait for their rivals to fail.
Related materials
Ovechkin, Malkin and Kaprizov miss the playoffs? Schedules for the end of the NHL regular season
Who hasn’t yet missed the opportunity to get involved in the fight?
Formally, the New Jersey Devils (72 points in 71 games), the Buffalo Sabers (71 in 71) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (69 in 69) are still in the fight for the playoffs, but their chances of being in the top 8 do not diminish . Even theoretical, but fantastic. Each club needs to win all the remaining matches, and even this scenario may not be enough to qualify for the playoffs.
