Washington now tied for final playoff spot The Capitals have put themselves in a terrible position late in the NHL season: Waiting and hoping on scores from out of town to help them reach the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Monday’s crushing last-minute loss to Tampa Bay erased the progress made after Saturday’s victory over Montreal and last Thursday’s win at Boston. But a game Tuesday night 400 miles away may have hurt even worse.
The Buffalo Sabres, chasing Washington for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 at home in a game they absolutely had to win. They cut the lead to 3-2 midway through the second period and fought back from 4-2 and 5-3 deficits, finally tying the game with just 1 minute, 53 seconds left and winning it in overtime on a power-play goal by Derek Roy.
The Caps (40-32-8, 88 points) are now tied with Buffalo (39-31-10, 88 points) after 80 games. With just two remaining, the teams must play their way in. The Caps host Florida on Thursday and finish Saturday at Madison Square Garden vs. the New York Rangers, the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres, meanwhile, travel to No. 5 Philadelphia on Thursday and then play at No. 2 Boston on Saturday. The entire season comes down to 120 minutes of hockey — or maybe a shade more given the potential for overtime and shootouts.
“Not being able to get a single point and tie it with three minutes left it’s disappointing, to say the least,” Caps forward Troy Brouwer said after the Tampa Bay loss. “We need to make sure that we’re closing out teams, finding ways to make sure we’re getting points. There’s only two left now, and we have a big game [Thursday] against Florida. And we have to hope for a little help [from Toronto].”
They didn’t get it. But a tiny ray of hope remains in the Southeast Division race. Florida (37-25-18, 92 points) blew a 3-0 lead to Winnipeg at home and lost in overtime. The Caps could still steal the division title and automatic No. 3 seed with two wins and two Panthers losses.
