The Eastern Conference in the NHL is stacked this season, and that’s not good news for the Washington Capitals.
Of the seven teams with the most points in the league, six are from the Eastern Conference, creating a standings crunch that currently has the Capitals (28-15-9) slated for a wild card spot. Despite ranking 10th in the NHL with 65 points as of Thursday afternoon, the Capitals are in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.
During an interview with 106.7 The Fan on Wednesday, Washington coach Peter Laviolette talked about the strength of the Eastern Conference, noting it’s “frustrating” that the Capitals are 13 games above .500 and sitting in a wild card spot.
“It does get a little bit frustrating,” Laviolette said. “You look at our group and we’re a top-10 team in the league, but yet we’re in a wild card spot.”
Washington was near the top of the Metro standings for much of the first three months of the season, but the team slumped early in the new year. At 65 points, Washington is behind Carolina (74 points), Pittsburgh (70) and the New York Rangers (69) in the division. The same point total Washington has would be tied for fourth in the Western Conference and one point behind the top spot in the Pacific Division.
“We should’ve played better,” he said. “There’s games I think that we haven’t played to our potential from Jan. 1 on and things that we’re addressing to try and become more consistent with that.”
It’s far from settled that Washington will end the regular season in the wild card, which guarantees a playoff-opening series against a division champion. But if the Capitals can’t earn a top-three spot in the Metro, they will likely play either Carolina or Tampa Bay from the Atlantic or Carolina or Pittsburgh from their own division.
“I don’t think it matters who we play in the playoffs,” Laviolette said. “If you look at the teams, the Rangers are having a really good year. Carolina has been a top team the entire year and Pittsburgh has always been a tough opponent. So no matter what you get in the first round, it’s gonna be a good one.”
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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