On Saturday, For the first time since Jan. 13, the Washington Capitals will play a game in which they can’t end up in first place no matter the result.
That’s because the Florida Panthers beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Friday night in Sunrise. Despite some recent struggles, it was Florida’s second straight win out of the break.
Kris Versteeg, who returned from the flu Friday, told the Miami Herald,”this is what we need.”
Luckily for the Caps, it wasn’t a three-point game and they remained a safe distance ahead of the Jets.
“You look at the standings every day and see where you are, where other teams are,” he said as quoted by the Herald. “Obviously you want to play in these kind of games because of the severity of the points. We know what is at stake every game. We need to put a long winning streak together.”
The Caps are 1-2-1 in their past four games going into Saturday afternoon’s matchup with the Montreal Canadiens. A victory could put them at least temporary put them into eighth place in the Eastern Conference and one point back of the Panthers. But Florida and Toronto play in separate games Saturday night.
