The Washington Capitals kept their slight playoff hopes alive Saturday with a road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Now, the Capitals need another victory against the Penguins, this time at home on Sunday afternoon, to stay in the race.
With 91 points and a 41-30-9 record, the Capitals are three points behind the third-place Philadelphia Flyers in the Metropolitan Division. A regulation loss to the Penguins (41-23-16, 98 points) would end the Capitals’ chances, as would a Flyers win Monday night over the Carolina Hurricanes.
“We just have to get two points tomorrow,” Alex Ovechkin said after a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, when he scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the season. “We’re still in. So it’s a good thing.”
Washington, however, could be without center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who left Saturday’s game with 13:58 remaining in the second period when he suffered an upper-body injury crashing into the boards after assisting on the first of Ryan Leonard’s two goals.
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told reporters after the game that he would learn more on the 27-year-old’s condition later Saturday and have an update before the game.
Dubois already has missed 52 games this season, with most of those due to an abdominal injury he suffered against the New York Islanders on Oct. 31. In 22 games since his return on Feb. 5, Dubois has 18 points (five goals, 13 assists).
Pittsburgh’s postseason spot already is clinched, and as the second-place team in the Metropolitan Division, the Penguins will have home-ice advantage over the Flyers, Capitals, Islanders or Columbus Blue Jackets — all of whom are fighting for the Eastern Conference’s final open playoff spot.
The home loss to the Capitals on Saturday snapped a three-game winning streak for the Penguins, who did not play several key veterans in the game, including four of the team’s top five scorers: Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin. Defenseman Kris Letang also sat out.
It’s uncertain if any of those players will return to the ice before the regular season ends.
“It’s a quick turnaround,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said after Saturday’s loss. “Feels like we’ve had a lot of these here recently. … It’s going to be important for us to regroup, be able to look at some things so we can do it better.”
Anthony Mantha did play Saturday and recorded his team-leading 31st goal.
Should the Capitals win and the Flyers lose to Carolina either in regulation or overtime, Washington would need to win Tuesday night at Columbus. The Capitals will remain alive as long as Philadelphia, which hosts Montreal on Tuesday, does not collect two points out of its final two games.
Should the Capitals and Flyers tie in the standings, Washington would advance to the playoffs because it owns the regulation-wins tiebreaker over Philadelphia (35 to 26).
Sunday will start a two-game road trip for the Penguins, who will finish their season Tuesday at St. Louis.
Sunday’s game also could be the final home game for Ovechkin. The NHL’s all-time-leading goal scorer, 40, is a free agent once the season ends. However, Ovechkin has not made a decision on coming back for a 22nd season.
–Field Level Media
