Hockey playoff race

Each night brings new excitement as rankings change. Last night the Sabres started out 2 points behind the Caps for the final playoff spot. They fell down early to the Maple Leafs 3-0. They trailed Toronto 5-3 with five minutes left but managed to find the net twice before the final horn sending the game into OT. In OT, they finished off the Maple Leafs on a PP goal to send the Buffalo crowd into a frenzy and put them in a tie with Washington with each team having two games left.

Additionally, Florida had an opporunity to seal their playoff spot and claim the SE divisional title at home in a game against Winnipeg. The Panthers also got off to a fast start but Winnipeg stormed back to take a 4-3 lead well into the third. The Panthers tied it up late sending it into OT where Evander Kane ended it giving the Jets a win. The one point put Florida up by four points on the Caps.

Basically, this is all going to come down to the wire. The Caps have a HUGE game against the Panthers Thursday night at Verizon. A Caps win puts them 2 points behind Florida for the divisional lead with one game remaining. More importantly, a Caps win would keep them in the 8th seed regardless of what Buffalo does as we hold the tie breaker on them. Buffalo will be taking on Philly in Philadelphia Thursday night. The ideal scenario is for the Caps to win and Buffalo to lose guaranteeing us a playoff berth. Then it comes down to Saturday where we would take on the Rangers and Florida would take on the Hurricanes. A Caps win and a Panther loss would mean we get the division and more importantly the 3rd seed.

It's funny that after all these months and after 80 games, it going to come down to the final two. Essentially, we are in playoff mode right now. Tomorrow night is a must win game. With Vokoun seemingly gone for the year, will be interesting to see who gets the nod in net. I imagine it will be electric at the stadium tomorrow and hopefully the Caps can give the fans reason to leave happy.

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!