Achi news desk-
Songs “Let’s Go, Red Wings!” filled the arena in downtown Washington before the home fans drowned them out. A Tuesday night in March felt like Game 7 in May because of what was at stake.
“Every game feels like a playoff game right now,” Capitals center Nic Dowd said after his team’s 4-3 overtime win. “The next game is going to feel exactly the same way.”
That’s how it is right now in the NHL’s Eastern Conference with three teams – Washington, Detroit and the Philadelphia Flyers – competing for the last two playoff spots and separated by just three points in the standings. While the West’s top eight qualifiers are set, preventing a surprise upset by defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas, all eyes are on the East with three weeks left in the regular season.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Alex DeBrincat of Detroit. “As a hockey player, you want to be competitive at this time of year.”
Going into Thursday, the Flyers (82 points, nine games left) are third in the Metropolitan Division, the Capitals (81 points, 11 games left) hold the second wild card spot and r last and the Red Wings (79 points, 10 games left) are the first team out. New Jersey (76 points, nine games left) and New York Islanders (75 points, 11 games left) would need significant help to get in.
A look at how the three leading postseason contenders in the East got here:
We’ll get to Alex Ovechkin in a bit, because he’s the face of the franchise and could be the leading goal scorer in hockey history. He’s a significant part of this, but the biggest reason the Caps beat the odds over the last month by getting back into the race is goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who is 8-2-0 in his last 10 games with 2.12 goals. against average. and a .929 save percentage.
“You can see why this team is where they are,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “Their goalkeeper, nobody is playing better in the league at the moment. They feed off it. The confidence he brings to that group, you can tell.”
That is not lost on Lindgren’s teammates, who have watched him beat out 2022 Cup champion Darcy Kuemper for the starting job and make one 10-pitch save after another to keep them in tight games.
“He’s a rock for us back there,” winger TJ Oshie said. “Chucky, in my opinion, has been the backbone of why we are still in this race and why we still have a chance to go to the postseason.”
Okay, back to Ovechkin. After starting the season with eight goals in his first 43 games, he scored eight in a five-game stretch from March 16-24, becoming the first player 38 or older to do so, according to SportRadar.
“He’s probably the straw that stirs this drink,” said Winnipeg associate coach Scott Arniel, who was on the staff in Washington for four seasons. “When it starts, that team is clearly on its feet, and no disrespect to anyone else, but it’s a force out there.”
No disrespect to 31-goal scorer and All-Star Travis Konecny, No. 1 defenseman Travis Sanheim or young winger Owen Tippett, but John Tortorella will probably be named coach of the year if the Flyers in.
Question his methods, like the healthy-scratch captain Sean Couturier or refusing to leave the bench immediately after being thrown out, but they work for a blue-collar team in Philly that wins because of Tortorella despite the lack of a top end. talent
“We’ve been very consistent in how we’ve had to play,” Tortorella said. “The biggest thing we’ve really tried to focus on was being connected in all three zones, and that’s helped us grind here.”
Goalie Samuel Ersson also deserves some credit for being pressed into the starting role at the age of 24 after Carter Hart took an indefinite leave of absence pending a sexual assault charge against him in Canada. As Tortorella said, “Things happened this year that put our goaltending situation in a bit of a state of flux,” and Ersson has handled the heavy workload as well as could be expected under the circumstances without a reliable backup.
Their blue line has also been ravaged by injuries to Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale and the trade of free agent defenseman Sean Walker, given the Flyers’ commitment to building for the future. General manager Danny Briere went out and got veteran Erik Johnson to stop the bleeding, but the young players have stepped up on the back end more than anything: Egor Zamula playing more minutes and rookies Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning coming up from the minors to fill in.
“I don’t think they were nervous at all,” Tortorella said, acknowledging that he was surprised. “They’ve handled themselves so well just not being overwhelmed with the situation.”
After captain Dylan Larkin was injured March 2 in Detroit’s second straight loss and ruled out for two weeks, Lalonde believed his team was in a better position to handle the No. 1 center’s absence than when it lost three of four without him in earlier this season. .
The Red Wings dropped their next five to go on a seven-game skid that threatened to wipe out their hopes of ending the franchise’s seven-year postseason drought. They have steadied the ship, picking up three of a possible six points, since Larkin’s return.
“He’s our best player,” DeBrincat said. “He is the heartbeat of the team. It’s great to have him back. Having him in the locker room is great. Obviously on the ice, his skill takes over and he does everything great.”
Meanwhile, Patrick Kane, the three-time Cup champion who the Wings chose over other interested players to return from hip surgery, has scored four goals in six games, including two game-winners. It would be crazy to ignore Kane’s impact in the Motor City.
“No words are needed for Kaner,” said defender Moritz Seider. “I think that’s pretty obvious.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
