With less than two weeks remaining in the NHL regular season, it is hard to picture the Washington Capitals making the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
Sitting at ninth place in the Eastern Conference, Washington finds themselves a point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets but have played a game more; they are three points behind the Red Wings who sit in seventh place. The only hope for the Capitals is the second place wildcard spot.
With the newly aligned conferences, the D.C. hockey club has had a difficult time finding themselves a way into the postseason because of the difficult competition. Before, the Caps were in the Southeastern division with the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and the Winnipeg Jets. In their new division, the Metropolitan, Washington has to play the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, and the New York Islanders.
Currently, Pittsburgh, New York, and Philadelphia claim the playoff spots for the Metropolitan at 101 points, 88 points, and 86 points; the Flyers with the least amount of points still have a five point lead ahead of the Capitals.
This photo was taken during the Capitals vs. Flyers game on 12/17. Holtby was in goal, and defensive pairings John Carlson and Karl Alzner were on the ice along with the Capitals third line, (Chimera, Fehr, Ward).
Through the playoff hunt, Washington has looked to their power play to score crucial goals, something that should not be relied on, especially if the Capitals plan to make a far playoff run. The Capitals have turned to their third line made up of Jason Chimera, Eric Fehr, and Joel Ward to score on five versus five, even strength hockey.
The inconsistency of the first and second line is what is setting the Capitals up to fail and miss the postseason and Adam Oates is to blame. Nicklas Backstrom is the best center for ‘Ovi’; they have undeniable chemistry and Oates has separated them in hopes to spark up the second line, but has he forgotten about the team’s superstar, the player and captain that is the highest paid on the team?
Washington has had trouble determining who the power six forwards were this season. It is hard to say with the inconsistency of the team. It is obvious who the number one star is (Alex Ovechkin), and the ideal top line would involve the rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov at the left-wing, Backstrom at center, and Ovi at right-wing. However, who would that leave to fill the void in Kuznetsov’s spot in the second line other than Marcus Johansson.
“MJ90’, who is now left-wing on the first line, would be a better spot on the second line. He has speed, but he lacks crucial stick skills at times such as backhanding to score crucial goals. Mikhail Grabovski, who has just returned from missing 22 games from an ankle injury, is a definite second line center. Through 51 games, he has 12 goals and 21 assists, opening his career up in Washington with a hat trick against Chicago. That then leaves Troy Brouwer at the right-wing. Some of the players on the third line arguably have better skills than Johannson; however, the third line has such great chemistry that it would be stupid to mess with.
If Washington plans to make the playoffs this year, they need to get their act together, that includes scoring crucial goals and winning games in shootouts. The coaching not knowing what they are doing is also setting the team up to fail.
