The Washington Capitals are becoming quite the story in moving into the top wild card spot despite a minus-27 goal differential and their big free agent goaltending signing two summers ago having an .894 save percentage. Not only does Washington hold the second wildcard spot, they’re also just a point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third in the division. On top of everything, they went away from the established veteran coach in Peter Laviolette to a younger coach with fresh ideas and a reset for the group as management had an eye on developing than being all-in on competing. What’s playing out is just bonus hockey for Washington as the Capitals are suddenly playing at a 92-point pace. There have been some nights where the Capitals have looked like a bottom-5 team against elite competition but what a credit to that group as this out of nowhere movement where the Capitals look like a team that suddenly believes they can get in are doing it without any resemblance of an elite core.

Alex Ovechkin is finally starting to heat up as he’s 52 away from Wayne Gretzky, but Nicklas Backstrom is gone, Kuznetsov was shipped out, T.J. Oshie is a shell of himself, John Carlson is not the John Carlson of 2-3 years ago by any means. Washington, though, has done a very good job of building adequate depth and even with removing 20 goals out of their lineup with the Anthony Mantha trade, they’ve gone 5-2 since the trade, accumulating 10 out of a possible 14 points.

The Capitals also have something very important going for them with so many mediocre teams bunched up as this is a year where we’re bound to have someone getting in over another team because of Regulation Wins. Washington, Detroit and New York Islanders are separated by two points or less. Washington leads that group with 27 regulation wins, Detroit 24 and New York just 21 regulation wins.

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WBS Watch

If the Penguins continue to stay within striking distance of a wild card spot, no guarantees Vasily Ponomarev see’s much of any playing time at the NHL level before the season ends as Mike Sullivan isn’t keen on messing with the lineup, but there are strong indications the Penguins are operating with the mindset of Ponomarev having a roster spot/regular role locked in for next season. Ponomarev scored his first goal in a Baby Penguins uniform Monday night and had a team-high 5 shots on goal. Members of the organization have marveled at his work ethic in the tough areas of the ice and how hard he practices. Carolina has several others in their system with much higher upside, but as mentioned before here, the Hurricanes brass was not too keen on losing Ponomarev. They made a push to keep him, and it’s believed Pittsburgh preferred Ponomarev over To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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2020 2nd round pick Joel Blomqvist who some of the league sees as having No. 1 goalie upside, earned his 20th win of the season Monday Night. Blomqvist is 20-9-6 with a 2.14 GAA and .918 SV% on the season. The Penguins preference remains to give Blomqvist To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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With WBS playing in Cleveland, Pittsburgh wanted to give Jack St. Ivany some valuable practice time with the big group. Had Pittsburgh lost to Detroit and fell nine points out, the thinking To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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Penguins – Devils

Here’s something the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils have in common. Both teams have just 3 wins in their last 11 games……….

Of the two teams, though, the Devils of late have looked like the more fragile team. It’s an organization To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!