Washington Capitals Trying to Hold onto a Playoff Spot

The Capitals are the No. 8 seed in the East, and for the first time in years are in danger of not making the playoffs.

The Capitals trail the division-leading Panthers by five points with only eight games remaining. It is not likely that the Capitals will catch the Panthers in the standings and take the high seed for winning the division. More importantly, the Capitals need to maintain the eighth seed, or they will miss the playoffs.

Being in danger of not making the playoffs is a new experience for the Capitals. For the past four seasons the Capitals have not been lower than the third seed in the East and have been in no risk of missing the playoffs. 

The Capitals have had a difficult season. They have struggled offensively and have lost some key players to injury. The Panthers have had a major turn around this season, so the Capitals haven’t been able to coast to a Southwest Division title.

When the Capitals had their rough start, they fired coach Bruce Boudreau and brought in Dale Hunter to take over. Hunter has not been able to bring back the offensive talent that the Capitals have shown in previous seasons, but the team has been able to hold onto their playoff spot.

Buffalo has been climbing in the standings and has pulled within a few points of the Capitals. Buffalo has been improving, and even the Jets are only a few points behind Washington. The Capitals control their fate for the playoffs, because no teams hold any games in hand over them. 

The Capitals have eight games remaining in the season, and only half of those games are against teams above them in the standings. The remaining schedule is very manageable for the Capitals, and the team is starting to show signs of its former self. 

Fans can only sit back and watch to see if the Capitals are going to hold on. With the offensive talent that the team has, if the Caps don’t make the playoffs, there will likely be some major changes made in Washington.