It's the eighth straight season the Capitals have qualified for the playoffs, the second-longest active streak in the NHL behind the Pittsburgh Penguins (16).
The Capitals (42-23-10) hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference and trail the Boston Bruins by three points for the first wild card, and the Penguins for third in the Metropolitan Division.
Washington will try to win its first postseason series since the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, when it defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in five games to win its first NHL championship. The Capitals overcame early-season injuries to forwards Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (upper body and lower body) and Anthony Mantha (shoulder surgery) to go 20-6-7 and tie the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL lead with 47 points through Dec. 31. Washington also recovered from going 8-12-2 the next two months to 14-5-1 since March 1.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has 47 goals and 86 points in 73 games in his 17th NHL season. Evgeny Kuznetsov has 74 points (23 goals, 51 assists) in 72 games, and Tom Wilson has set NHL career-highs with 24 goals, 28 assists and 52 points in 71 games. Defenseman John Carlson (67 points; 15 goals, 52 assists) reached 50 assists for the fourth time in his NHL career.
Washington is averaging 3.40 goals per game, eighth in the NHL. Its power play has improved after players returned from injury, converting at 27.7 percent (28-for-101) in 31 games since Jan. 28.
The goaltending duties have been split between Vitek Vanecek (36 starts; 19-11-5, 2.67 goals-against average, .909 save percentage, three shutouts) and Ilya Samsonov (35 starts; 22-10-4, 3.00 GAA, .897 save percentage, three shutouts). Vanecek went 6-3-0 with a 1.83 GAA, .937 save percentage and three shutouts between Jan. 1 and March 5 but is 5-4-0 with a 3.58 GAA and .886 save percentage in nine starts since.
The Capitals added depth at forward prior to the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline on March 21 by acquiring Marcus Johansson from the Seattle Kraken and Johan Larsson from the Arizona Coyotes. Johansson has two points (one goal, one assist) in 11 games since the trade; Larsson has five points (one goal, four assists) in seven games.
