southeast division nhl

Otto Porter Jr. had 21 points and 11 rebounds, John Wall scored 19 and the visiting Wizards moved within a half-game of the Southeast Division lead with a 112-86 victory over the Hawks on Friday night.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. This week, we exchanged emails with Peter Hassett, who blogs about the Washington Capitals for Russian Machine Never Breaks.

A little more than a month ago, the Washington Capitals called a players-only meeting in search of a wake-up call. Off to the fourth-worst start in franchise history at 2-8-1, they sat in last place in the NHL, five points out of a playoff spot.

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With five games left in the regular season, the Capitals have pretty much locked up the Southeast Division title and are likely to secure the second seed in the Eastern Conference. But Washington coach Bruce Boudreau doesn't want his team to let up.

The Capitals' season continues to see-saw with 21 games left before the playoffs. They haven't been able to get in a steady rhythm since a strong November, winning a few games before losing a few then doing it all over again and again.

Expect the Capitals, who trail the Lightning by five points in the Southeast Division, to be players before the NHL's trade deadline on Feb. 28. As it's currently constituted, this team doesn't appear to be capable of going on a deep playoff run (though nothing should be discounted as long as Alex Ovechkin is still in the scarlet and white).