RED ALERT: Caps still have goals to play for

The Washington Capitals find themselves in a quite unique situation for the franchise.  There are 7 regular season games left, and the Capitals have little to play before beyond individual stats, momentum, and assuring they finish with the best record over all in the NHL.  They have already wrapped up their third straight Division championship and have clinched their first ever Eastern Conference title. 

Tonight, the Caps face off against the Ottawa Senators.  Ottawa has not yet clinched a playoff spot, but are seemingly in control of one spot, sitting in 5th at 87 points, 5 points ahead of 6th and 7th place (Philadelphia and Montreal).  Tonight's game is at home in the friendly confines of the Verizon Center in which the Caps have posted an NHL best 27-5-4 record.   Overall, the Capitals are 49-15-11 and will try and win #50 tonight, for the first time in franchise history.  The Caps will also close out a decent March in which they posted a 8-2-3 record. 

Tracee Hamilton writes about whether the Caps should start resting players for the Stanley Cup playoffs.   Coach Bruce Boudreau pretends he does not know how to answer that question. 

"I'm going to find out," Boudreau added. "Actually, right now we can't rest anybody because everybody's hurt. That question is taken out of the equation.

"I don't know what's best. You've seen it work both ways; you've seen it fail both ways. You've seen guys not play as hard, and that's how they get hurt. You've seen them play too hard and get hurt. It's got to be more on feel, if guys need a day they're going to get a day, if they don't need a day or if their game's not going the way it's supposed to be you play them more to get them going to where they're supposed to be. So there's so many things that go into that."

In essence, this paragraph neatly wraps up my thoughts.

So there you have it, Bruce. Days off don't matter, except when they do. Rest is good, rust is bad. Don't single out certain guys for time off, but your top scorers can't sit. Do whatever you're going to do quickly, because no one should get a breather for the final regular season game, and you need the final two or three games for line experimentation.

Heck, Alex Ovechkin would never want to sit.  he is in the midst of a scoring title run.  Hart as well.  Not happening. 

Not to mention, we are on a Presidential Cop watch, first ever for the Washington Capitals franchise.  No time to rest. 

Read more at

http://www.dcprosportsreport.com/articles/washington-capitals/red-alert-caps-still-have-goals-to-play-for.html