The long grind of the 82-game NHL regular season is over, and the serious business of fighting for the Stanley Cup and growing rally beards is about to begin.
After the focus for the last week of the season was on which teams would make the the final playoff positions in the Eastern Conference—the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers were successful, while the Boston Bruins are left crying in their beer—it shifts to the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference and the tough gauntlet in the Western Conference.
The playoffs begin April 13, and the full first-round schedule was announced by the NHL late Sunday night. The team that hoists the Stanley Cup will have survived four best-of-seven playoff series against the best and most competitive teams in the league.
The Capitals were the best team in the league by a wide margin in the regular season. They won the Presidents' Trophy with 120 points; no other team had more than 109 points.
The Capitals thrived under head coach Barry Trotz from the start of the season and have star power with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom, a ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Silverman
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