Mission accomplished

It was the last game before the New Year, a wild road victory against the Eastern-Conference leading Ottawa Senators.

Nobody knew then that a near-impossible worst-to-first journey had just begun.

The win, highlighted by Alex Ovechkin’s first career four-goal game, ended a 51-day run for the Washington Capitals at the bottom of both the Southeast Division and the conference. The Caps completed the magical ride last night with a 3-1 victory against the Florida Panthers at Verizon Center to secure the fourth division title in franchise history and a return to the playoffs after a three-season absence.

“One of my dreams was to go to playoffs and right now we are there,” Ovechkin said with a wide grin. “Right now we can relax and think about playoff games. Nobody believe in us. Everybody say like, ’We are a done team. No future.’ ”

After three consecutive last-place finishes in the Southeast Division, Washington had to win 11 times in this season’s final 12 games to complete a comeback that was only made possible the night before when the Panthers upset the Carolina Hurricanes to open the door for the Caps.

There were several points this season when the Caps were considered to be out of playoff contention, not the least of which coming on Thanksgiving when Bruce Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon after a 6-14-1 start.

“There was never a word of we couldn’t or we won’t or we can’t,” Boudreau said. “It was always about pushing through and believing in yourselves. To have to win seven in a row at the end just to get in … at some point you’d think maybe, ’I’m tired of pushing.’ But they didn’t. They were awesome.”

The Caps earned the No. 3 seed and find out today who their opponent will be. If Philadelphia beats Pittsburgh at Wachovia Center this afternoon, it will be the Flyers and should they falter, the Senators will be the first-round foe. Game 1 at Verizon likely will be Thursday or Friday.

Last night wasn’t the Caps best effort of a season-ending 15-4 run that began when they added Cristobal Huet, Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke at the trade deadline, but Huet had 25 saves for his ninth straight win and Fedorov had the game-winner.

As the final seconds ticked off, the sold-out crowd stood and erupted in celebration.

Defenseman Mike Green jumped into Huet’s arms and their teammates soon followed.

“At the deadline [general manager] George [McPhee] made some great moves and everybody said, ’Aw, it doesn’t matter. They still don’t have a chance.’ We never believed that in this room,” defenseman Tom Poti said.

There were some tense moments after Florida’s Kamil Kreps tied the game 1-1 early in the second period, but Fedorov gave Washington the lead for good with his 11th marker of the year. Alexander Semin whipped a perfect cross-ice, backhand pass to his countryman, who broke in alone on the left wing and ripped a slap shot over Florida goaltender Craig Anderson’s right shoulder at 15:03 of the second period.

The 38-year-old Russian’s offensive production has trended upward at season’s end. After registering one goal and five points in his first 12 games with the Caps, Fedorov has eight points in the past six contests.

“Maybe I looked a little younger, but I feel it right now,” Fedorov said. “I feel the same as the guys who have never played in the playoffs. I am as excited as they are.”

Semin made it 3-1 with a rocket from the top of the slot 2:21 into the third period. He collected a pass from Nicklas Backstrom on the power play, waited a second and then unleashed a slap shot through a screen for his 26th of the year.

With the assist, Backstrom now holds the franchise record for helpers in a rookie season with 55, one more than Ovechkin had in 2005-06.

“After the Pittsburgh game [when he put the puck in his own net for the winning goal], I felt sorry for my team,” Backstrom said. “It’s great to make the playoffs now and everybody’s happy.”

Tomas Fleischmann put the Caps in front with his 10th goal of the season at 7:19 of the first period.

Fleischmann created a turnover with a check in the right corner then took a pass from Brooks Laich and fanned on his first attempt. He regained control of the puck and then deked around Anderson before sliding it into the net while falling down.

After so many long nights and so many losses, it was a moment to savor for many.

“I don’t know yet,” Boudreau said when asked if this was real or a dream. “I just hope I wake up tomorrow and look and [say], ’Yeah, we are in.’ This whole season has been a dream. I couldn’t have written up a better script.”