Him missing 47 games from Nov to Feb was too much to overcome. Yes the Caps are terrible on the road and in back to backs but I still say they are a playoff team if Dubois does not miss 47 games. He is usually very good on defense. Last night was not an indicator of that but I still think the Caps would have like 6 to 8 points more at the least if he had not gotten hurt. I think I am being conservative with that number of points increase as well. I do not care for 38 and 57 on D. They are fine from time to time but overall they are too slow and turn the puck over too much. 38 can be okay at times but I would like to see him be more consistent.

opposing forwards in front of the net. These top D-men are hard to get. And teams that draft them in the top five usually keep them for their career. Even with the greatness of Ovie and the Caps winning the cup, I miss the days of our punishing defenders when we had Al Iafrate, Kevin Hatcher, Scott St (nevermind....), etc.

a big game, shower, head to the airport, stagger into a hotel in Manhattan at lord knows what hour, then get up to play after whatever sleep you managed to get, whatever meals you scarfed down, etc. Meanwhile the Rangers slept in their own beds, went through their usual home routines, etc. It's an easy bet, when you think about it. Really tough for the Caps to pull that off. At least LT got the night off...we will see.

With the playoffs on the line this performance shows the character of the team. Not good. The players talk about how close the locker room is. The locker room should be uncomfortable, jobs on the line imo. This is the nhl, not the minors. The Caps have a culture problem, and it starts in the front office. ** Edited by capitals1 at 4/6/2026, 4:22:20 AM

tell you?