Capital Cup: Caps Fly Their Way to Postseason, set up First Round matchup with Rangers!
Capitals win 2-1 over Flyers to win three straight games and make 15th postseason in 17 years!
Welcome back to another edition of ‘Capital Cup’, a Cool Sports Newsletter series made by a die hard Capitals fan. The Capitals secured a 2-1 win Tuesday night over the Philadelphia Flyers, winning their third straight game and punching their ticket into a postseason matchup against the first seeded New York Rangers. Let’s break down the Caps two wins against Boston and Philadelphia to make the playoffs, and if they truly looked like a team primed for a surprising postseason run!
The Capitals defeated the Lightning on Saturday night, where their playoff chances were still surrounded by question marks. But as we mentioned on Sunday morning’s article, one thing was true: the Capitals controlled their own destiny. So while there were many teams behind them who could make the race interesting, it was all determined on the Caps results. And they ended up winning both games and heading into the playoffs.
The first win against the Bruins was a little bit of a shocker. The Capitals struck first with John Carlson (two game winning goals in the three games FYI), and they never looked back. Offensively, 25 shots only resulted in two goals for Washington, one of which an empty netter by Nic Dowd (who scored in back-to-back games thanks to the empty-net) to seal the game.
But the Capitals honestly controlled a very good, 109 point Bruins team. But was only able to get 16 shots on net, making Charlie Lindgren’s job at net much easier with the veteran coming away with the shutout. The Caps drew more penalties, took away the puck, disrupted passing lanes and blocked more shots before they could get to Lindgren. We’ve seen games this year where the Capitals won despite looking like the worse team. In this game, Washington looked like the superior team despite some offensive struggles and it brought the Caps into a win-or-go-home scenario in the final game of the season against Philadelphia.
And that game, the very next day, was a nail-biter. Back and forth hockey. Very similar to the postseason in a sense that both teams were playing, and rightfully so, with everything on the line…and were physical. It was hard for offenses to produce good looks not close to the net. The two goals that made it 1-1 going into the third period were a deflection and a rebound 18 inches or less away from the goalie. It was tight, and both goaltenders were incredible.
However, this is where the playoff implications and tie breakers helped Washington. The Caps started to lose control in the third period, and the Flyers seemed almost destined to score and come away with the win. But instead, because they would be eliminated from the playoffs if the game went to overtime, they had to pull their goalie in a tie game with about 3 and a half minutes to go, and a beautiful play from T.J. Oshie sent the Caps to the Big Apple for the postseason.
Did you get any pattern in these two games? Well, I got one: defense. In both games, no matter who Washington played, the game was decided defensively. And if the Caps want to go far in the playoffs, it’s going to have to be because of a defensive type approach. The Capitals will not compete with most teams in the NHL offensively. They’re not fast enough. But if the game is decided on John Carlson, Martin Fehervary, Trevor van Riemsdyk and most importantly Charlie Lindgren, there is a window to get through.
The Caps showed playoff identity with blocked shots, poke checks, hits, fighting for pucks and great goaltending. What may hold Washington back will be their speed and skill set offensively. And in a few days we’ll have a whole series preview breaking down exactly what Washington needs to do to beat the Rangers. But the key will have to be their defensive play and goaltending, which these past few games have shown is a huge strength for the Washington Capitals. The Caps are making their 15th postseason in 17 years, and I couldn’t be more happy and excited for what the playoffs have in store!
Chase Coburn
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