JUNKIES: How worried should we be about the Capitals' pre-playoff swoon?
The Capitals are 3-6-1 in their last 10, and have allowed 15 goals in their last three games – a shootout win over Carolina and two blowout losses to Columbus.
They’re the No. 1 seed in the East, which they wrapped up long ago, and Columbus was fighting for their playoff lives…and that’s why Tarik El-Bashir told the Junkies Monday that while the slide is worrisome, it’s also not entirely unfounded, even as they had 100 points almost a month ago.
Spencer Carbery and several Caps, to a man, have half-admitted the Ovi chase was part of the calculus, but also all said it was time to buckle in with that behind them – but given two back-to-back bad losses right after all that, is it safe to say it’s still a bit of a hangover?
“I think there is something to that hangover as well, literally and figuratively. It was a big celebration, and there was a lot going on as your captain chased down hockey immortality – and now the air is out of the balloon a little bit,” El-Bashir said. “There was a little bit of that and I would certainly say that factors into the equation but if there's any silver lining it's that they still have a little bit of time to get dialed in with two games left. The Capitals have won just about everything that there is to win in the regular season except for the President's Trophy, while Columbus is playing an elimination game every night and playing with desperation – so the Capitals are remembering when they played hard down the stretch last year and ran out of gas, so if they go through these next two games and they're still a tick off, I think then maybe you can start using the concern word. If you’re on a flight and there’s some turbulence, if the flight attendant isn't freaking out, you should be calm; to me, the players and coach Carbery aren't freaking out, so I think that tells us like concern is probably too strong a word right now. Let's see how these next two games go.”
Listen to El-Bashir’s entire visit with the Junkies above!
