The NHL regular season is coming to a close, so it is not to early to look ahead to the playoffs and see what road the Capitals might have to take to the Stanley Cup Finals.
As of right now, the Capitals are second in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers. They don't play the Flyers anymore this regular season, but they wrap up the season with two games against the East's worst team, the Florida Panthers. That should be a pretty good chance for them to make up some ground at the last minute.
The current third seed in the Eastern Conference is the Boston Bruins, and they are just four points back of the Caps. If the Caps lose a few games down the stretch, they have just as good a chance of sliding down to third as they do of climbing up to first.
If the playoffs started today, the Capitals would face the New York Rangers in the first round, and then likely the Bruins in the second. But the bottom of the Conference is even more jumbled than the top, so their first round opponent could change day to day.
As the regular season comes to a close and the playoff picture comes a little bit more into focus, we'll be keeping track of where the Capitals stand in this stream. Make sure to check out our Caps blog Japers' Rink for more on the Caps.