After Climbing Back Into Playoff Spot, Capitals Hungry For More With 15 Games To Go: 'We Can't Take The Foot Off The Gas Pedal'

For the first time since Jan. 2, the Washington Capitals are back in a playoff spot as they've resurrected their season for the time being with 15 games left on the circuit. But there's still work to be done, and all the while, they're hungry for more.

Washington has gone 6-3 in the month of March to climb back into playoff territory, as the team stole the second Wild Card spot from the Detroit Red Wings with a statement 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday to close out a vital five-game road swing out West.

"Great feeling," captain Alex Ovechkin, who had three goals in the final two games of the road swing, told reporters with regard to being back in playoff territory. "We knew it's not gonna be easy."

The trip didn't start according to plan, with the Capitals dropping 3-0 and 7-2 decisions to the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers, respectively, to kick things off. After that, Washington regrouped and got its act together, knowing that it was essentially "do or die."

"We knew we needed to turn it around," Hendrix Lapierre added. "Games are so important that you can't take the foot off the gas pedal."

Starting with a tight 2-1 win over the Seattle Kraken, the Capitals cleaned up several areas of their game, tightening back up on defense and reigniting the spark on offense rn route to another vital 2-1 win over the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Canucks before topping the Flames.

Thanks to its 3-2-0 road swing that saw the players come together to block several atttempts and keep their opponents at bay, D.C.'s playoff odds have spiked to 53.4 percent, per MoneyPuck.

"We're just coming together at the right time as a team," Strome said.

Washington's youth has also stepped up to the plate, with Lapierre, McMichael and Ivan Miroshnichenko picking up key points, while fellow 2023 Calder Cup champions Beck Malenstyn and Aliaksei Protas have put in the work on the fourth line and penalty kill to keep the puck out of their own net.

Lapierre credits their run with Hershey for preparing them for these games, but he also said the locker room coming together has led to stronger play up and down the lineup.

"(The veterans) know how to handle themselves and they help us young guys through that," Lapierre noted. "We just have a poised group that just knows what it takes… we’re pretty satisfied.”

Charlie Lindgren also continues to play a key role, boasting a .956 save percentage over his last six starts.

"We're just coming together at the right time as a team," Strome said.

As the race continues and the season winds down, Washington knows the fight is still on, and the race doesn't end here with several top opponents coming up down the stretch.

That said, the Capitals are aware their future is in their hands, and they're ready to push for it.

"We keep fighting, keep playing and we go game by game," Ovechkin said. "How I said, we all understand we still can do it; we still in the battle. Every point counts. Of course, we all knew we gonna play against teams who are fighting for playoff spot as well, and it's gonna be playoffs mode, playoffs atmosphere. It's kind of good for us."