Washington is 9-1 against Southeast
The Capitals have laid waste to the Southeast Division this season.
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There’s no other way to describe a team that is 9-1 against division opponents and has a 16-point lead in the standings with 38 games remaining. Washington also is 6-0 on the road against its four rivals entering a game at Tampa Bay tonight followed quickly by one at Florida on Wednesday. Two more wins would go a long way toward wrapping up a third consecutive division title.
Need more evidence of their Southeast domination? The Caps (27-11-6, 60 points) have also beaten the second-place Lightning (17-17-10, 44 points) 12 straight times — a franchise record against one opponent. The odds say that streak has to end some time. But coach Bruce Boudreau hopes it isn’t any time soon.
“Every chance you get you want to put distance between you and the next team,” Boudreau told reporters last Friday before an 8-1 demolition of the Atlanta Thrashers the following night. “You really don’t want to give them any opportunities if you can help it.”
Of course, winning the Southeast is far from a topic of conversation in the Washington locker room. The Caps were heavy favorites entering the season and success in the Stanley Cup playoffs is the only goal the players acknowledge anyway. They took a step toward that last spring by winning a playoff series for the first time since 1998.
For now, Washington has won three games in a row overall and rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth is expected to start Tuesday for the eighth time in 10 games. That would give Jose Theodore the net on Wednesday. The 21-year-old Neuvirth made 38 saves against the Thrashers on Saturday and has allowed just five goals over his last three starts.
The Caps have supported their goalies with 17 goals during their current winning streak and continue to lead the NHL with 162 total. That’s 10 more than the next best team, the Chicago Blackhawks (152) — who have played two more games. And Washington’s most recent offensive outburst comes with only a modest goal and three assists from star forward Alex Ovechkin.
