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  6. article_body => "<p>With their 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, the Capitals' playoff future is starting to come into focus. Washington has only one game remaining and can finish in either third or fourth in the round robin standings. That limits the number of possible playoff opponents for the Caps when the games really start to matter.<\/p>\n<p>First, before talking about&nbsp;<em>who&nbsp;<\/em>the Caps may play, it is important to remember&nbsp;<em>why.<\/em>&nbsp;Under the NHL's regular format, a normal year would see teams advance in a bracket, meaning each team knows going in they will be playing the winner of a specific matchup if they advance. This year, the NHL is going back to its old format of re-seeding after each round. This makes determining matchups a bit harder to figure out.<\/p>\n<p>Here's what we know. The Caps are going to finish in the bottom half of the round robin meaning they will play one of the highest two seeded teams coming out of the qualifying round. The Carolina Hurricanes swept their qualifying round series against the New York Rangers. As the No. 6 seed coming in, Carolina is going to be one of the top two qualifying round teams.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/defensive-breakdowns-evgeny-kuznetsov-benched-and-capitals-penalty-kill-put-test\"><strong>RELATED: DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWNS AND MORE FROM CAPS LOSS TO FLYERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Washington's final seed will be determined by Sunday's game against the Boston Bruins. A win in regulation, overtime or a shootout will mean the Caps are No. 3, while a loss in any fashion will bump them down to No. 4.<\/p>\n<p>The simplest scenario for Washington is that If the Pittsburgh Penguins rally to win their series against the Montreal Canadiens, the Caps are guaranteed to play either Pittsburgh or Carolina as the No. 5 and 6 seeds, respectively. It gets a little trickier if&nbsp;the Penguins lose. If that happens,&nbsp;the Hurricanes become the top qualifying team and will play&nbsp;No. 4. The top team behind them then becomes No. 6 which, as of now, could be the New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs or the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n<p>So a rematch with the Hurricanes is a definite possibility for the Caps, as is a matchup with the rival Penguins.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/art19.com\/shows\/capitals-faceoff\">CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE CAPITALS TALK PODCAST<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/art19.com\/shows\/capitals-faceoff\/episodes\/55c965eb-99e9-4d30-a176-52440af59722\/embed?theme=light-custom\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; border: 0 none;\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe> \n<p><em><strong>Stay connected to the Capitals with the MyTeams app.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/smart.link\/5bb65a2b6cedb?site_id=Dig_RSN_Wash&amp;creative_id=nbcswash1200&amp;cp_4=www.nbcsports.com&amp;cp_1=washington&amp;cp_2=myteams-nbc-sports&amp;cp_3=nbcswash1200\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a>&nbsp;to download for comprehensive coverage of your teams.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>MORE CAPITALS NEWS:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Struggling: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/flyers-continue-their-dominance-over-capitals-round-robin-win\">Flyers dominate Caps again<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Oshie: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/tj-oshie-shows-you-dont-always-have-have-letter-your-chest-be-leader\">Don't need a letter to lead<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Vanececk:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/whats-goalie-prospect-vitek-vaneceks-upside-let-olie-kolzig-explain\" target=\"_blank\">How much upside?<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n"
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Capitals

Capitals

With their 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, the Capitals' playoff future is starting to come into focus. Washington has only one game remaining and can finish in either third or fourth in the round robin standings. That limits the number of possible playoff opponents for the Caps when the games really start to matter.

First, before talking about who the Caps may play, it is important to remember why. Under the NHL's regular format, a normal year would see teams advance in a bracket, meaning each team knows going in they will be playing the winner of a specific matchup if they advance. This year, the NHL is going back to its old format of re-seeding after each round. This makes determining matchups a bit harder to figure out.

Here's what we know. The Caps are going to finish in the bottom half of the round robin meaning they will play one of the highest two seeded teams coming out of the qualifying round. The Carolina Hurricanes swept their qualifying round series against the New York Rangers. As the No. 6 seed coming in, Carolina is going to be one of the top two qualifying round teams.

RELATED: DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWNS AND MORE FROM CAPS LOSS TO FLYERS

Washington's final seed will be determined by Sunday's game against the Boston Bruins. A win in regulation, overtime or a shootout will mean the Caps are No. 3, while a loss in any fashion will bump them down to No. 4.

 

The simplest scenario for Washington is that If the Pittsburgh Penguins rally to win their series against the Montreal Canadiens, the Caps are guaranteed to play either Pittsburgh or Carolina as the No. 5 and 6 seeds, respectively. It gets a little trickier if the Penguins lose. If that happens, the Hurricanes become the top qualifying team and will play No. 4. The top team behind them then becomes No. 6 which, as of now, could be the New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs or the Columbus Blue Jackets.

So a rematch with the Hurricanes is a definite possibility for the Caps, as is a matchup with the rival Penguins.

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