The Capitals are surging at the right time, winning five straight games including a dismantling of the Flyers last night. The Capitals now have sole possession of first place with one more game played than the teams in contention. The Caps have a fairly balanced schedule for travel but have nine games left against playoff teams. Three of these games are against the league leading Tampa Bay Lightning which they will be happy to get two points out of.
The Capitals and the Hurricanes have a home and home coming up at the end of the month.