Caps Game Night – at Panthers, 3/6/11

Where » BankAtlantic Center

When » 5 p.m.

TV » CSN HD

Radio » WFED-1500 AM

If the Caps want to make a move to better their playoff position in the Eastern Conference now is a pretty good time to do it. Bruce Boudreau is adamant that the Panthers – as undermanned as they are – remain a hard-working group that can still spring a surprise or two down the stretch. And you certainly don’t want to just look ahead to Monday’s first-place battle with Tampa Bay. Then again – since the trade deadline Florida is 0-2-1 and has been outscored 10-4.

The Panthers dispatched seven players from the NHL roster last week, including defenseman Dennis Wideman, who scored the game-winning goal in a Jan. 11 victory over the Caps and yet will today patrol the blueline for Washington. Defenseman – and team captain – Bryan McCabe was sent to the New York Rangers. Veterans Chris Higgins (Vancouver), Bryan Allen (Carolina), Cory Stillman (Carolina) and Radek Dvorak (Atlanta) were traded, too. Forward Michael Frolik had gone in an early February deal with Chicago. And there wasn’t a ton of NHL talent returning to Florida in those deals. Draft picks, salary-cap space and prospects were the preferred price. 

That’s a long way of saying that Washington needs to find a way to win these games. As important as the Tampa Bay game seems it means little if you drop points to the Panthers or Edmonton Oilers at home on Wednesday. The Caps didn’t exactly look pretty in recent wins over non-playoff teams like the Islanders (twice) and Blues. Doesn’t matter, though, Get the two points and get out of town. The margin for error has been pretty low lately. Washington has won six of eight games, but all of them by just a single goal.

With Philadelphia’s 7-0 loss to the Rangers earlier Sunday afternoon the Caps are just six points out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. A victory over the Panthers and they leap into first place in the Southeast Division over the idle Lightning (37-21-7, 81 points) and climb within four of the Flyers. The Post’s Katie Carrera reports from Sunrise, Fla. that Michal Neuvirth will start both games in Florida. The 22-year-old told me Friday after practice that he has no problem dealing with back-to-backs. He did it all the time at Hershey the last two years, after all. We’ll see if that holds as the pressure of a playoff race mounts.

Follow me on Twitter @bmcnally14