Caps @ Blackhawks 3-19-2008 Post-Mortem

The game is still going on as I type this, but for all intents and purposes the game is over.

There's no sense sorting things out tonight because as Craig Laughlin said in the second intermission; this is the type of game where you just burn the tape and forget about it. I had a feeling that this was coming and the only doubt I did have was the last time Chicago trotted out old-timers for honoring, the Blackhawks were the ones who got steamrolled.

But that wasn't the case tonight as Murphy's Law was in its full ugly effect. The Ning had a 4-1 lead on the Buffaslugs and tanked in the third to lose 7-4. Carolina took care of Atlanta so the Caps do not lay a temporary claim to the 8th spot in East, they fall to 10th in the Eastern Conference, and are now 5 points behind Carolina.

We all knew going into this trip that the Caps would have to be just about perfect if they wanted to return home with a chance of making the playoffs. Well, with tonight's loss, any margin of error they did have is now gone. The good news is that they now get Atlanta on Friday night and the Thrashers should be easy pickings for them if they are able to play their game. The bad news is that looks be about the easiest game left on the schedule as the Caps will have two games each with Carolina, Tampa, and Florida to close out the season. Those games are all going to be dogfights. Should the Caps pull out a playoff spot, they will have definitely earned it.