The Capitals are keeping belief alive in the dressing room.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals aren't taking no for an answer. Not at this point.
With three games to go in the regular season, the Capitals sit three points out of third place in the Metropolitan Division and five points out of the second Wild Card spot. Considering the Ottawa Senators' push, securing that second spot will be tough, so the more likely route for D.C. to sneak in will be through that third Metro seed.
To secure that spot, Washington will have to win all three of the final games down the stretch, and the Philadelphia Flyers would have to lose two of the final three games while the New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets would have to lose at least one of their final three.
Right now, the odds stand at 7.2 percent of making the postseason, per MoneyPuck. D.C. can only hit a maximum of 95 points, but owns the tiebreaker over the other Metro teams with more regulation wins.
"It's Game 7 for us, so it's a situation we can't lose," Ovechkin said. "We understand... just take it one game at a time and see what happens."
It'll be a difficult feat, especially maintaining focus amid what could be Ovechkin's final NHL games, but not impossible.
It starts with sweeping the pending back-to-back against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"Lots of storylines going on, but ultimately, at the end of the day, we're just trying to get a win tomorrow, and we'll worry about Sunday when that time comes," Strome said.
And, ultimately, young players like Cole Hutson, the premise of the playoff push is an exciting one, and he's ready to do what he can to try and help D.C. get there.
"I think just keep playing my hardest and hopefully the team comes out with a win," Hutson said.