The Washington Capitals are there again. Since the New Year, they’ve gone 14-3, moved to the top of the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division and are sitting with the best record in the NHL at 34-11-6. Given the Capitals’ history, should the fan base be excited or filled with dread? Washington has been the case study of […]
The most important two months in the history of the Washington Capitals begins tonight when the open the playoffs at home against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Caps came into existence in 1975 and have never won the Stanley Cup. They’ve only made the Finals once (1998) and were swept, so they’re still looking for their […]
The Washington Capitals might be having a dominant regular season, but given their troubled history in the postseason no one really cares. The Caps are 35-8-4, running away with the Metropolitan Division, the Eastern Conference and in the lead in the race for the President’s Cup, given to the regular season’s best team. But the […]
We’re almost one-third of the way through the lockout-shortened NHL season and the Washington Capitals have to feel a sense of urgency. The Caps are only four points behind in the race for the last playoff spot, and as this article goes online, they play head-to-head with the New York Rangers, currently the team holding the cutoff spot at #8. But Washington also opened Sunday in 15th place among 15 Eastern Conference teams, meaning it will take some sustained winning to leapfrog everyone else. Let’s take a look at what’s wrong with the Caps this year and how it compares to the last two years.
The Washington Capitals have got themselves a reputation going for dynamic regular seasons followed by playoff failures under the leadership of head coach Bruce Boudreau and star forward Alex Ovechkin. Tired of the bad rap, Boudreau was fired in late November after the Caps started slowly, but it appears the way Washington will find some consistency is just to play mediocre hockey all year, rather than just in the playoffs. If the postseason started today the Caps would be home. TheSportsNotebook takes a look to see if there is any possibility for a turnaround in the season’s fourth quarter.
There’s no race in hockey bigger right now than the Southeast Division, where Florida and Washington are tied with 61 points apiece. The winner of the race grabs the #3 seed automatically and the loser is on the fringe of the playoffs, with 62 being the baseline number for getting in the top eight as […]