Washington Capitals, playoff hockey team? They’re right there as of Wednesday morning, three points behind Philly for a guaranteed Metro spot and one behind Detroit for a Wild Card, and it’s all thanks to a strong finish against a couple of top teams in the West.
“We had a good trip out West; some difficult games, struggled a little bit early on, but we were able to grind out that back-to-back win in Seattle which was huge after some difficult travel, and finishing the trip, we got away with one in Calgary,” Coach Carbs told the Junks Wednesday said. “We'll take it coming back home.”
The Vancouver game in between Seattle and Calgary may have been the key though, as the Canucks are the top team in the West but got taken by Ovi’s 841st in TJ Oshie’s 1,000th NHL game – milestones all around.
“It was really emotional the whole day, because we had a nice video tribute celebrating Osha's career, then he had to leave morning skate early because of a little bit of discomfort there, so we weren't sure if he was gonna be able to suit up that night,” Carbs said. “We had all this build up, but then for him to be able to play and us to play the way that we did against one of the best teams in the league on the road, and the way that we sort of held on to win that game, I thought it was a really inspiring and emotional win for our entire group.”
The Caps are back home starting tonight and will celebrate TJ1K on Sunday with pregame ceremonies including all players wearing No. 77 during pregame warm-ups, with those jerseys to be auctioned off to raise money for a charity that fights Alzheimer's Disease.
“It’ll be great to be able to celebrate that with the Caps fans in our building,” Carbs said. “One thousand games is an incredible feat in this league, and to be able to celebrate that on home ice and let the fans show their appreciation for his career and what he's done for this organization particularly, it will be a great day.”
Take a listen to Coach Carbs’ entire segment above, where he goes into the travel difficulties of the western trip, Charlie Lindgren’s ascension in goal, and more!