Caps knocking on door of East lead after red-hot March

By Bud L. Ellis

With nine games left in the regular season, the Washington Capitals have crawled their way up the Eastern Conference standings.

From the middle of the pack, the Caps have used a torrid March to draw within two points of first-place Philadelphia. And that’s where Washington hits the ice Tuesday night, facing the Flyers with the ability to pull even atop the East with a victory in regulation.

Washington, at 42-21-10 on the season, has 94 points. Nine victories in 10 games so far in March have fueled the Caps’ surge. Only a 3-2 loss last Wednesday at Detroit has kept the Caps from being perfect for the month.

Since an overtime victory on the first day of the month against the Islanders, Washington has been the hottest team in the NHL. One drawback for the Caps in their attempt to win the Eastern Conference regular-season title for the second consecutive year: Philadelphia has two more games left than Washington.

That puts all the more importance on Tuesday’s meeting. The Flyers haven’t played well of late, going just 4-4-2 in their past 10.

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:50 pm by bud

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