WASHINGTON — After defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday, the Washington Capitals are one step closer to punching their ticket to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Washington can clinch a playoff berth on Thursday with a regulation win over the Philadelphia Flyers, in addition to a regulation loss for the New York Islanders. The team can also clinch if it beats Philadelphia in any fashion, the Islanders fall in regulation and the Columbus Blue Jackets avoid a regulation win.
The Capitals, who are tied with the Winnipeg Jets for the league lead, would become the first team to qualify for the playoffs this season.
Not only would Washington clinch a spot, but it would also guarantee at least a third-place finish in the Metropolitan Division.
"It's the most important time in the year... we put ourselves in a good spot here," Tom Wilson said. "We just gotta stay dialed in and make sure we're playing our best hockey over the next month plus."
Capitals Plan On Load Management Down Stretch, But Not For Ovechkin: ‘Can You Imagine If I Did That?’
ARLINGTON, V.A. — As the Washington Capitals finish up the regular season, coach Spencer Carbery plans to manage some of his top performers’ minutes and potentially sit some names for load management down the stretch in order to prepare for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Last year, it took the Capitals until the last game to clinch a spot in the postseason, a spot they also secured with a win over the Flyers. Washington was the final team to qualify and was swept in the first round at the hands of the New York Rangers, who were pushed out of the second Wild Card spot on Tuesday following their loss to the Calgary Flames.
Washington has enjoyed a significant amount of success thanks to its strong offseason acquisitions, the emergence of younger players and the continued success of the veteran core. All the while, Alex Ovechkin is still scoring goals, and is eight away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record.
Wilson also credited the group's chemistry for its success.
"It's just been a really fun year," Wilson said. "First week of the year, bringing (Brandon Duhaime), all these characters in, I'm like, 'Oh, it's gonna be a long year, they're gonna be all over me.' But it makes it fun coming to the rink and I think you can see that with our group. Everyone has a lot of fun and it makes you want to come to the rink and keep playing hard for each other."