For the fourth year in a row, the Washington Capitals are Metropolitan Division champions. Here is a review of the matches that led them there.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are about to start, and for the Washington Capitals, this is what the entire season has been leading up to. Their first challenge in their quest to defend their championship is the upstart Carolina Hurricanes.
Before we shift completely into playoff mode, however, it may be worthwhile to take one final look back at how the Caps finished the regular season. From a stats basis, it appears as if they have flipped that theoretical switch entering the playoffs (per RMNB).
"More from Puck Prose Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024 This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings The NHL trade deadline was on February 25. Since then, the Washington Capitals have won seven of eight games, taken hold of the Metropolitan Division lead, and generally looked awesome. The last few weeks have been a dramatic shift from earlier in the season, when the Caps looked just sorta okay. Something has changed."
Now, this article was written on March 16th. Since then, the Capitals have continued to play well but lost a key player in Michal Kempny. That could end up being a big factor for Washington, given how important his contributions were with John Carlson last year.
Outside of the stats, similar patterns can be seen just using the eye test. That is what this article is about: going through game-by-game to analyze the performance of this team, as well as how entertaining the game was if that is what matters more to you.
As with previous editions of this series, I will assign every game a rating in performance and entertainment, spotlighting one game a week to discuss in more detail. With that in mind, let us take a look at the end of the season for the Washington Capitals!