Apr 23, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) takes to the ice prior to the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 5-3 and clinched the Southeast Division championship. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

As you may have heard, last night the Washington Capitals clinched the Southeast Division title and the third seed in the playoffs. They are returning to the playoffs for the sixth straight year. A month ago if you told me the Capitals would win the Southeast Division I would have called you crazy.

Quite frankly, I am absolutely astounded by the turnaround we have seen from the Caps. After their 5-3 win last night over the Jets, I was inspired look back on Washington’s wild season:

The Capitals struggled mightily out of the gate bottoming out after a 5-2 loss to the Penguins on February 7th. At that point, Washington was 2-8-1 and, according to Sports Club Stats, they had a minuscule 2.16% chance of making the playoffs. The Capitals bounced back with back to back wins against the Panthers (it seems the best antidote for struggling teams is playing Florida) with the wins marking the beginning of a minor resurgence.

The Capitals finally escaped from the Eastern Conference basement on March 7th with a resounding 7-1 defeat of the Panthers. However, they were not yet out of the woods. On March 19th the Capitals again lost to the Penguins and at this point of the season their chances of qualifying for the playoffs were 5.97%.

After the game Capitals forward Eric Fehrtalked about the team’s scoring struggles, “We just passed it around, maybe trying to get a little too fancy. We’ve got to find a way to maybe have some more shots and have some traffic”. Whatever scoring struggles Washington had in their 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh, they figured things out in a hurry as something clicked for the Capitals following this loss.

Apr 23, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates after scoring an empty net goal against the Winnipeg Jets in the third period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 5-3 and clinched the Southeast Division championship. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Since that loss the Capitals have gone an absurd 14-1-1 including an 8 game win streak on their way to a 10-1-0 April to date. It doesn’t take an expert to see that the Capitals have turned things around in a huge way, and I do not think it is coincidence that the team got hot right as superstar Alex Ovechkin rediscovered his scoring touch.

A quarter of the way into this season I charted out Alex Ovechkin’s scoring rate throughout his career. Thirteen games into the 2013 season Ovi was in line for yet another dip in scoring. Here is a look at that chart:

Mar 5, 2013; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center Jonathan Huberdeau (11) passes the puck against Winnipeg Jets left wing Andrew Ladd (16) in the second period at the BB

After a big division win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, the Panthers will look to keep things going when they play Washington tonight in another Southeast Division clash. While both teams sit even in the standing with 19 points apiece, the Capitals have reached that total playing two fewer games than Florida. The Capitals got off to a horrendous start going 2-8-1 in the seasons first 11 games but have since turned things around going 7-3-0 in their last 10. The Panthers on the other hand have played consistently poor all season and are 3-5-2 in their last 10.

Washington is coming off a pretty spectacular comeback win over the Boston Bruins. After going down 3-0 in the first period, the Capitals fortified their defense and clawed their way back to tie the game 3-3 and send it to overtime. It was in overtime that Eric Fehr scored this brilliant game winner as he was falling to the ice.

The Panthers scored a few brilliant goals of their own in their 4-1 win over the Jets on Tuesday night. Shawn Matthias‘ goal was nice enough to nab the top play on ESPN’s Top 10. You can see the game highlights here. Florida has only once this year won two games in a row but they will get the opportunity tonight in an important game for both teams.

In Florida’s 4-1 win on Tuesday, you could tell that the team was fired up and playing hard. With all the injuries the Panthers have suffered, it is going to take a full team effort like that every night in order to come away with some wins. Jacob Markstrom was strong in the net in his first start since the Jose Theodore injury and he can expect to get tested early and often tonight by the Capitals.

Series Histroy:

The Capitals have gotten the better of the Panthers recently. Washington turned their season around against the Panthers as their 7-3-0 streak was jump started by back to back wins against Florida Feb. 9th and 13th. The first win was a 5-0 home victory for Washington in which the Panthers showed zero life. In the rematch on the 13th in Florida the game was much closer and the Panthers actually had a two goal lead in the third before Washington scored two to send the game to overtime where they eventually got the winner in a 6-5 game.

The Capitals have now won five straight against the Panthers and six straight home games against Florida. (Source)

Players to Watch:

Jonathan Huberdeau has scored three goals in his last two games as he has broken out after a stretch of five games without a point. Huberdeau recorded two goals in the Panthers 6-5 overtime loss the last time the Panthers played the Caps. Huberdeau is clearly gaining more and more confidence on the ice which is a scary though when you look at how well he has already been playing.

Mike Ribeiro and Nicklas Backstrom lead the Capitals in assists with 17 each. The duo has been the Caps most productive thus far this season. Braden Holtby has also picked up his play after his dreadful start. In his last four games, he has two shutouts and despite allowing three first period goals Tuesday against the Bruins, he stopped everything that came his way the rest of the game helping the Caps pick up a huge win.

The Panthers will have little rest after tonights game as they return home Friday for another matchup against the Winnipeg Jets.

Feb 12, 2013; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Mike Weaver (43) slides into the net and goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) in the third period against the Washington Capitals at the BB

The Florida Panther’s offense showed up in a big way tonight, unfortunately so did Washington’s. The Panthers 6-5 overtime loss to the Capitals was a game that would make fans of goaltending and defense cringe, scratch that, fans of goaltending and defense probably smashed their televisions with baseball bats mid second period lest they go insane watching the rest of the game.

Both the Panthers and Capitals have struggled with goaltending this year and it showed tonight in South Florida. Scott Clemmensen got the start for Florida tonight and allowed 6 goals on 29 shots good for a paltry .793 save percentage. Braden Holtby, who shut Florida out in the Capitals 5-0 win Saturday, performed just a tiny bit better than Clemmensen stopping 27 of 32. Special teams played a large role in the game as Florida went 0-6 in power play opportunities while the Caps converted two of their four power plays.

The Panthers received two goals from Jonathan Huberdeau, his fourth and fifth of the season. Drew Shore scored his first NHL goal after coming so close so many times this season. The other Panther goals were scored by Tomas Fleischman (4) and Shawn Matthias (2).  The Panthers were up 2-1 after the first period and up 4-3 after the second period. Shore got on the board early in the third to put Florida up 5-3 but goals from Eric Fehr and Alex Ovechkin evened the score and sent the game to overtime.

The overtime period only lasted 32 seconds before the Capitals put an end to the game with a goal by Troy Brouwer. Nicklas Backstrom hit Brouwer in stride as he rushed down the right flank into the Panthers zone. Clemmensen saved Brouwers first shot but Brouwer was able to pick up his own rebound and put the puck in the back of the net.

The win gives the Capitals (4-8-1) nine points, just one behind Florida (4-6-2). Washington will look to sweep a trip through Florida when the play the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday, meanwhile the Panthers will look to get back in the win column when they face the Montreal Canadiens, also Thursday night.