It’s a lovely spring day, isn’t it? Perfect for a little pre-playoff excitement! Eleven games on the docket, ten of which will impact where teams will be seeded, who they’ll face or if they’ll even be getting to the playoffs at all, means tonight is a pretty thrilling night if you’re a hockey fan.

Except for that eleventh game; sorry, Stars-Avs – we’re just not that into you.

Here’s what could happen, just in the East:
- If the Hurricanes win and the Flyers lose, Carolina jumps into 4th place (although Philly still has a game in hand)
- If the Devils lose and the Flyers win the Atlantic Division race gets a little more interesting, as Philly pulls to within three points with two games left
- If the Devils lose, whether in regulation or in overtime, the Caps clinch 2nd seed
- If the Caps gain just one point, regardless of what the Devils do, they clinch the 2nd seed
- If the Hurricanes lose and the Penguins win, they’d be tied for 5th with one game remaining
- If the Hurricanes AND Flyers lose and the Penguins win, there would be three teams tied with 97 points (although again, Philly has that pesky game in hand on both)
- If the Penguins win they cannot finish lower than 6th
- If the Canadiens get at least a point they clinch a playoff spot
- If the Caps clinch second, the Canadiens win and the Rangers lose, the Caps will play the Habs in the first round
- If the Canadiens lose in regulation and the Rangers lose in overtime or the shootout, they’d each have 92 points, 41 wins…and one game left for all the marbles (or…8th place, whatever)
- If Florida loses they’re out; if Buffalo loses they’re out – of course when your playoff hopes are riding on the Canadiens and Rangers both losing, that optimism will tend to kick in
- If the Rangers lose and the Panthers win, they’ll be tied with 91 points apiece and one game left for each; the Rangers would have to lose both their games for Florida to have a shot
- And all of this means that depending on what happens tonight, Saturday and Sunday night could be either the most insanely intense night of hockey, scoreboard-watching and standings-hopping…or the most frustratingly pointless night of hockey ever.

…anyone dizzy yet?

Here’s the good news: the Caps are in the playoffs regardless. They’re the division champs regardless. They’ll be a second or third seed regardless. They’ll have home ice in the first round regardless. Life is good – enjoy your hockey tonight, folks! Have a fourth cup of wine for me.

So here’s the deal…

A lot of people are looking at the Rangers-Canes game from last night and saying that the Rangers failed the Caps. A win by New York would have clinched the division for the Caps and by falling apart in the third period they prolonged the battle for at least one more day. A failure. Bad little Rangers…very bad. Right?

Not in my mind. Now granted, I’m looking at this with half an eye on where a certain other team in bleu, blanc et rouge sits in the standings – but after some thought I think it actually is better that the Canes won.

Because this has worked out so beautifully you couldn’t even script it better. There was something hollow about how the Caps clinched a playoff spot this year, nice in concept and yet not as fulfilling because it came by way of someone else doing the work rather than the Caps doing it themselves. It wasn’t even something that was much in doubt, but you want to celebrate those moments and do so in the event of victory, not another team’s defeat.

We were robbed of that moment – the final horn sounds, the final score is weighted for the good guys, and the crowd explodes knowing what that win signifies. We had it last year. We got that moment, in dramatic fashion as the regular season came to an end. A win, a playoff berth and a division title all wrapped up in one single game – and we got to share it with our team.

Tonight the Caps have a chance to give us that moment again. It’s not a guarantee; nothing is a guarantee, and the Sabres team the Caps will face tonight is desperate and hungry and lingering right on the edge of a playoff spot that gets further away every day. And yes, this year just winning the division or even making the playoffs doesn’t seem like the goal so much as a pit stop on the way to a greater (and shinier) destination – but it’s a moment, one of many great ones along the course of this season.

We want the moment.

Thank you, Rangers, for giving us the chance to have it.

I’d like to think that in a seven game series against the Hurricanes, the Caps have more than enough talent to pull out a win. The skill level of an Ovechkin, a Semin or a Green can out-match that of a Cole, a Staal, or a Whitney, any day of the week.

Still, the prospect of facing this Carolina team compared with the team we saw earlier in the season is a daunting one – the win would not be easy by any stretch, not that any series win would be in this league.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Before any of that can happen we have to get to the postseason, preferably on a high note. And right now it looks like the Caps are content to go back and forth between good and bad games, riding out the season and saving their energy for the playoffs.

They’re alternating games in which they play tight defense and crash the net with games where they get a little too casual with the puck and fire 60-foot shots on a goalie who almost always stops 60-foot shots. They’re getting secondary scoring some nights and barely getting primary scoring the next night. They’re playing disciplined, low penalty games some nights and taking dumb penalties the next. They’re…well, you get the idea.

Even within games they’re struggling to find any sort of consistency. We saw it tonight, where they played a strong if scoreless first period, got some good penalty killing and generated some good chances on Ward – and then got careless with the turnovers, took dumb penalties and ultimately failed to get any traffic in front of the net. Again.

More thoughts:
- Is Carolina turning into Philadelphia, Jr? Lots of cheap shots going on tonight, including a cross-check to the face of Mike Green (which should have been more than 2 minutes, in my opinion) and a very scary boarding on Ovechkin by Brind’Amour.

- If the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Semin line was guilty of passing too much the other night in Tampa, the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov line was equally guilty tonight. Part of that seemed to be caused by the fact that every shooting lane appeared to be clogged up by black jerseys, but there were still those times where you just wished one of them would just shoot the darn puck.

- I’d prefer not to play any more games in which Bill McCreary is the ref.

- Speaking of officiating, the Caps certainly took their share of earned penalties but there were a few that were questionable, particularly the “dive” by Fleischmann. It looked more like he just lost his balance, probably helped by but not directly caused by the “trip” that was also called. Pretty weak call, especially on a guy who for all his faults doesn’t exactly have a rep as a diver.

- That ultimately will bring up the whole question over why refs still call a penalty when they assess that someone has taken a dive, so for those who are still confused now seems like a good time to go over it. They’re not mutually exclusive; one player could still have tried to trip a guy, even if the other player makes it look worse than it was. So it comes down to whether a ref thinks that a) the initial trip/hook/hold/etc is legitimate and b) the other player tried to sell it. If the answer to both is yes, they call both. Not sure why that always stymies fans, but it does.

- Keeping the Cap-killing trio of Staal, Whitney and Cole to two assists? Good. Allowing goals from guys like Pitkanen and Babchuk? Not so much.

- Cam Ward was fine. He made the necessary saves. But he wasn’t forced to make a lot of tough saves, and once again it comes down to there not being enough traffic in front of the net. This team has seen it happen against good goalies like Ward and average goalies like Gerber, with the same result. They won’t get far in the playoffs if they can’t figure that out eventually, and not having figured that out 74 games in is not a great sign.

- Jose has been largely blameless of late, but the eventual game-winner was caused by poor rebound control followed by an inability to get across the crease for the second save. His defense needs to clear guys out of the way, but he also needs to make that stop and he didn’t.

- That being said, he should usually be able to depend on his high-flying offense to give him more than one goal to work with. Not excusing the bad play, but…one goal? That’s all we could manage?

- Did Semin really take a roughing call? Obviously Semin vs. Gleason isn’t exactly a matchup I like, and sure, it led to the four-on-four goal that put the game out of reach. But it was still fun to see him get feisty. Shades of late season/playoff Semin showing up once more, and that’s a good thing. The big center ice check that put Staal on his butt last season is still burned in my brain.

- Michael Nylander actually did not have a bad game. Color me shocked.

- Call me crazy, but I think Green should get a game or two in the press box down the stretch. He’s not playing well, despite the renewed offensive spark, and he’s been sick/injured for a couple of weeks now. He may say he’s 100% and Boudreau will probably never sit him, so it’s a moot point; still, it would be nice for him to be rested and ready to go for the playoffs. We’ll need him.

- Ovechkin had a better win percentage in the faceoff circle tonight (75%) than Backstrom, Fedorov and Steckel. He only took four draws, of course…but still.

- Strange stat of the night (as if the Ovechkin one wasn’t strange enough) – John Erskine had more shots on goal, 4, than the rest of the Caps’ defense combined. Ponder that one for awhile.

- Will Fleischmann ever score another goal?

- Will Fehr?

- With a +2 rating on the night, Brind’Amour now gets his season +/- up to about -748. Give or take a hundred.

In closing…ugh. A couple of days off should be nice, especially considering they’ve got a white hot Toronto team to face on Tuesday – and yes, I’m calling them white hot to salvage a little pride after the beating they handed my Habs tonight.

8 games and counting. Hang in there, guys.

For every tight, defensively sound, positionally secure 2-1 game that comes along, you’re probably going to have one of these – a fast-paced, end to end, high-scoring game that ends in that abomination of Bettman hockey, the shootout.

And for every player in red tonight, it seemed that behind every good play there was a slightly boneheaded play just lurking.

All part of the charm of this team, though, right? It would be so boring if they were just flawless on a nightly basis.

Boring…right…

At any rate, it’s really become the mantra around here, so say it with me: it wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t have to be. The Caps were dominant at times, a bit lazy at others, let a two goal lead slip away (twice) and still came away with a big two points – and their first win at home in five tries.

A few thoughts:
- There aren’t many nights where a goalie will allow 4 goals on 32 shots and get a positive rating on his performance. That was Theodore’s night, though, and he was a huge reason this team came away with a win. He made some huge stops, particularly in the third period and overtime, and absolutely shut it down in the shootout. He even threw in a nicely timed poke check reminiscent of another tiny French Canadian goalie.

- At the other end of the ice, Cam Ward was having an interesting night. He made some great saves, including a particularly stunning glove save that absolutely robbed Boyd Gordon in the slot, and then gave up some uncharacteristic softies. Green’s goal springs to mind, as does Ovechkin’s shootout goal that won the game. Whatever, anytime we can get him on a somewhat off-night I’ll take it.

- Getting a five-on-one is great…until the puck comes out of the zone and you realize all five guys are still at the other end of the ice. Um, oops. As Boudreau said after the game, a three-on-one probably would have been sufficient. But hey, at least one of the five guys got a shot on net.

- Mike Green has apparently been battling a cold of some kind, as have many of his teammates (and Comcast reporter Lisa Hillary), and it’s definitely affecting his stamina. After getting a shot off on the aforementioned five-on-one, Green was clearly struggling to catch up to the play and basically gave up halfway down the ice. If he’s sick, Boudreau needs to be managing his minutes better; the schedule doesn’t get any easier in the next few weeks.

- Let’s take up a collection to send Erik Cole back to Edmonton. At least out there he would only be a Cap-killer once, maybe twice a season.

- Is Alexander Semin on fire or what? A goal and three assists to continue not only his point scoring streak (7-9-16 in his last 9 games) but also his domination of the Hurricanes and Cam Ward in particular. In his career he has only two 4+ point games – and both have come against Carolina. Some of the things he did tonight, including his shootout goal, were downright Semin-esque and lovely.

- Of course, the four point night doesn’t cover up the fact that he was also on the ice for all four Carolina goals, finished -3, and was at least partially responsible for one of the goals with his fumble at the blue line. Now whether that was his fault or the fault of the Globetrotter-delayed ice surface is another issue altogether.

- Rough night for Tom Poti, who took three penalties including one in overtime that could have been costly were it not for his penalty killers and particularly his goalie. Considering Poti’s one of the better penalty killing defensemen on the team, he might want to consider staying out of the box…especially in overtime. You’d think that would have been a lesson learned last April.

- Alex Ovechkin scored in the shootout.

…no, really.

Overall that was a pretty intense, physical game between these two division rivals – it always seems to get a little heated when the Caps and Canes clash, as much as we’d like to think our only rivalries lay outside the division. And they come with built-in enemies like Eric Staal and Ray Whitney, too! Makes you wonder what a playoff series would look like between them, doesn’t it?

T-12 games and counting.

Time to take stock a bit and look at the big picture – because while that was a disappointing loss in general tonight, it certainly wasn’t disappointing because of the way the Caps played.

Coming off a great team win yesterday in Toronto one would almost expect this team to come out sluggish and limp through the second of back to back games. One would expect that after losing yet another forward to injury, after arriving in Raleigh in the wee hours of the morning, after playing the third game in four nights with an ever-shrinking lineup, the Caps would be less than peppy.

The fact that they weren’t is a testament to what Bruce Boudreau has instilled in this team, because losing just is not an option. It’s unacceptable. And being tired and beat up and bruised is no longer an excuse. And that’s the way it should be, even if sometimes the bounces don’t go your way and the other guy is just a little bit faster.

Losing two points sucks; losing it to a division rival sucks even more. And having the game winner scored by Eric Staal is just…ugh. But the Caps were never really out of this one – not really – and could actually have been up by at least a handful were it not for the acrobatics of Michael Leighton. For the second time in two road games the Caps played a great defensive game, battling for every inch of ice and holding Carolina to a minute number of shots up until the last five minutes or so.

Ah, but that last five minutes…

With all the things this team did well, with all the great defensive performances from the forwards to Alzner to Morrisonn to latest defensive hole-filler and all around impressive callup Sean Collins, why on earth would Sami Lepisto be out on the ice in the late stages of a tie game? For that matter, why on earth would Sami then remain on the ice for the late stages of a one goal game after he was partly responsible for the go ahead goal? ‘Tis a puzzlement.

Mike Green, Tom Poti, Jeff Schultz…heck, even Erskine: consider this a personal, heartfelt plea from me to you. COME BACK NOW. Sami’s not quite ready to fill your shoes.

The rest of this team, however, continues to marvel. You could say that losing Eric Fehr was maybe one too many injuries – you could have said that five injuries ago, too, but at this point we’re really starting to mess with chemistry and Fehr’s injury seems like the straw with the proverbial camel. And yet almost every night they’re bringing it, not letting up on the physical end and playing the system even with literally half of the regular roster in sick bay. Incredible.

Speaking of incredible – we all know the Caps’ rash of injuries has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the organization, but you wouldn’t know it to watch the Hershey Bears. With their entire defensive corps either injured themselves or up in DC, with their two leading scorers promoted to fill offensive gaps for the Caps, they’ve still managed to win their 11th straight game. That’s a franchise record, by the way, and even without their regular defensemen? It came by way of a shutout. I repeat…incredible.

As for the Caps, a potential four points on the road is limited to only two this weekend, and it’s tough to take. But there’s good news on the horizon, as they finally get another little break to rest and recuperate before their next game – one for which they’ll need all the rest and recuperation they can get, with super-hot Boston coming to town. Right now it looks like Mike Green and possibly Fehr are the closest to returning, but three days is a long time and really anything could happen.

That light at the end of the tunnel may seem dim, Caps fans, but it’s there.

With Peter Laviolette being relieved of his coaching duties earlier today, that brings the count of Southeast Division bench bosses to be fired this season up to two – and also means that the entire division has undergone a complete overhaul behind the bench in the last twelve months.

Last year it was Hartley and Hanlon falling before Thanksgiving, with Tortorella being dismissed and Martin stepping back from his dual coach/GM role over the summer. And of course, who can forget the big mama of hirings (and firings)…Barry Melrose.

Oy.

The Canes are an interesting case, though, having made history as the first team to miss the playoffs two years straight after winning a Cup. That’s what we call “bad” history (see Capitals, Washington, 1974-75 season).

Yet while you could say they underachieved the year after winning the Cup, it’s hard to make the same claim last year – in fact, considering the major, long-term, key player injuries they suffered throughout the season it’s amazing they weren’t eliminated until the last game. This isn’t a firing where you wonder what took them so long, because it was probably due in large part to the coaches that they maintained pressure on the Caps up to the final minute.

It’s all about results, and a “what have you done for me lately?” mentality. Having dropped six of their last ten and clinging to eighth place, the clock certainly seemed to be ticking on Laviolette’s reign in Raleigh – although arguably not as much as some other coaches who are still employed.

So the big question here isn’t so much why was he fired, but why the heck would you replace him with the guy he replaced three years ago? The Canes haven’t changed that much since the last time Paul Maurice was at the helm…

Stay tuned, Caps fans. This division just gets more and more interesting daily, doesn’t it?