The timing is not exactly ideal. But nothing can be done about the schedule now.
If the Capitals hope to reach the postseason for the first time since 2003, they’ll have to do it by winning on the road. The next six games are away from Verizon Center, which hosts the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and a circus over the next two weeks. The formidable — and season-defining — trip starts tonight against the Nashville Predators.
“It shouldn’t matter where we play, quite frankly, at this stage of the season,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, whose team sports a 15-15-5 record away from home. “We’ve been a pretty resilient road team. So we’ll just go at it again and hopefully get it done.”
Washington (35-30-8, 78 points) begins the trip with back-to-back games against Western Conference opponents Nashville and Chicago. Both teams are also in the playoff hunt. The Predators (36-29-8, 80 points) are in ninth place in the Western Conference, two points out of a playoff spot. Chicago (34-32-7, 75 points) is seven points out.
The Caps haven’t seen much of either team in recent years, losing 5-2 to Nashville on Dec. 7, 2005, and 4-3 to Chicago on Jan. 10, 2006. One new Cap familiar with both is veteran forward Sergei Fedorov, who played each eight times a year while with Columbus the past three seasons.
“They’re both going to pressure the puck all over the ice. It’s going to be quick starts,” Fedorov said. “We just have to be ready for a road game like we were in Buffalo and Boston [last week]. I think we have the experience to realize what’s going on.”
