Washington's Running Out of Time, and Wednesday Against Toronto Feels Like the Last Real Chance
Remember when the Washington Capitals looked untouchable? A year ago they were cruising to the best record in the Eastern Conference. Alex Ovechkin had just finished his legendary chase of Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal-scoring record. Life was good in D.C.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, and the Caps are in full panic mode. They're five points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild-card spot, and they've got two regulation wins less on the board. They're also five points back of the Philadelphia Flyers for the Metro Division's third seed, though they do have eight more regulation wins than Philly in the tiebreaker. The problem? There are three teams between Washington and Ottawa right now (Detroit, the Islanders, and Columbus), plus two more teams wedged between the Caps and Philadelphia (New York and Columbus). So yeah, there's technically a path to the playoffs, but it's narrow. Real narrow.
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Wednesday's matchup against Toronto at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+ isn't technically a must-win, but there's barely any room for error at this point. After the Maple Leafs, Washington heads to Pittsburgh on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, then hosts the Penguins again Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on TNT. The regular season wraps up Tuesday with a trip to Columbus at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Ovechkin has been productive this season with 31 goals added to his historic total, but individual brilliance might not be enough if the team can't string together wins in these final games. The math is brutal. With every team having six or fewer games left before the season ends April 16, the window is slamming shut fast.
The Odds Are Brutal, But They're Not Zero
Stathletes is giving Washington just a 4.0% chance of making the playoffs. That's rough. But ask any team that's been in this spot: it's not zero. The Capitals will be battling to the bitter end because what else can they do? They've got eight games left to turn this thing around, and they're going to need help from other teams to fall their way. But stranger things have happened in April hockey.
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