NHL Playoff Schedule 2012: Capitals and Teams Who Must Win Saturday

The Washington Capitals are one of several teams who cannot afford to lose during Saturday's NHL playoff action because defeat would make their chances of advancing past the first round very slim.

Going down 0-2 in a series is very difficult to come back from, even if Game 3 is going to be in your building.

Falling behind 0-3 in a series nearly guarantees that your summer vacation is about to begin since only two teams have comeback from a 0-3 deficit to win a series since 1975.

Let's look at three teams who cannot afford to be defeated on Saturday.

Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Info
Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins	3 p.m.	NESN, NBC
Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers	7 p.m.	NBCSN, MSG
San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues	7:30 p.m.	CNBC, FOX MIDW
Chicago Blackhawks at Phoenix Coyotes	10 p.m.	Fox Ariz, NBCSN

Washington Capitals

Even though young goaltender Braden Holtby was amazing in his first-ever playoff start in Game 1 of the series, the Washington Capitals offense must play better against the Boston Bruins because they cannot ask their inexperienced netminder to carry them each game.

Going down 0-2 to a Bruins team that is so good defensively and has great goaltending would be a real challenge for the Capitals to overcome.

The key for Washington is to have their best goal scorers give them an early goal. Star winger Alexander Semin was invisible in Game 1, and captain Alexander Ovechkin had zero shots.

Both of them must play better in Game 2 or the Bruins will take a commanding 2-0 lead down to Washington.

St. Louis Blues

If the St. Louis Blues lose on Saturday they will extend their playoff losing streak to eight games and head to San Jose down 0-2 in the series against the Sharks.

The Sharks had an impressive 26-12-3 record at home this season, so the Blues cannot afford to go into the Shark Tank needing to win both games.

An early goal would be huge for the Blues and give them confidence for the rest of the game. St. Louis needs to match the Sharks' experience with youthful energy and physicality.

An 0-2 series deficit would be a major confidence blow for a Blues team that doesn't have a lot of playoff experience.

Ottawa Senators

The New York Rangers soundly beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Thursday and just looked much better than their opponent in all three zones.

Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson looked a bit timid in his first career playoff game. Unless he can find the offense that made him the NHL's leader in points among defensemen this season, the Senators will begin their summer vacation soon.

An early goal is a must for Ottawa, who need to instill some confidence in themselves against a talented Rangers team and a hostile Madison Square Garden crowd.

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Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He was also the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.