Playoff atmosphere surrounds Panthers' visit to Caps

WASHINGTON -- After his team's practice Monday, Washington Capitals coach Dale Hunter said Tuesday's night game against the Florida Panthers was going to be "a playoff game."
 
After his team's morning skate Tuesday, Hunter made the same statement. It may have seemed incredibly unlikely six months ago, but the Panthers and Capitals will battle at Verizon Center in early February and first place in the Southeast Division will be on the line.

"I've got a veteran lineup. I've got guys that can count and read the paper," Florida coach Kevin Dineen said. "They know what the deal is. It's very simple. You look at our situation and we can talk and we can build up about tonight's game, but it is going to be the same thing Thursday and the same thing Saturday and Sunday. We're in a situation where every game has a large level of importance."

The Panthers have a one-point lead on the Capitals, and Florida also has a game in hand. They have also had an extra day to rest, with Washington losing Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center to Boston.

Washington has a collection of banners in this building to signify its dominance over the rest of the Southeast in the past four years. Florida hasn't made a postseason appearance since defenseman Erik Gudbranson was 8 years old.

The Capitals are trying to hold onto their vice grip on this division, but the Panthers lead the contenders to steal it away from them.

"It seems like the Southeast is going to be a real battle to the end," said Panthers forward Matt Bradley, who played six seasons for the Capitals. "Winnipeg's playing well, Tampa's heating up a bit. We've talked about it -- every in-division game is an important one because they're all going to be four-point games."

This wasn't supposed be a division race. Washington, fresh off its second straight season of earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, enhanced its roster with a collection of signings and trades.

The Capitals were expected to be even better than the teams that had collected an average of 114 points in the previous two campaigns. After a 7-0-0 start, they have slogged through a season of injuries, a coaching change and a power outage on offense.

At the same time, the Panthers were one of the NHL's biggest mysteries coming into this season. Half the roster was turned over in a flurry of offseason signings and trades.

Dineen had the challenging task of molding a team out of this new collection of players, while also adjusting to his first year as a head coach in the NHL. Not only has Florida exceeded the expectations of most preseason projections, he has the Panthers believing a return to the postseason after an 11-year absence is a distinct possibility.

"First I was surprised about how great of a group of guys it is, and you can build off that," Panthers forward Tomas Fleischmann said. "I think that's what works and makes our success in the start of the season. Now is a tough time because it is a long season and you have to fight through it and pull together. We'll see how it goes, because this is an important time."

Fleischmann spent parts of six seasons in Washington, including three full campaigns as a regular. Now, in his first season with the Panthers, he is part of the one of the most productive lines in the League.

The Florida trio of Fleischmann, Stephen Weiss and Kris Versteeg has carried the Panthers' offense at times. They've tailed off in the middle of the season, but they remain the fourth-most productive line at even strength in the NHL, behind the top units in Vancouver, Detroit and Boston.

"They've been unbelievable," Bradley said. "[Fleischmann] has had a chance to be a top-line guy here. Obviously when he was [in Washington] he was behind some great players. Those guys are getting more ice time and more opportunities and taking advantage of it."

Now this collection of castoffs, young players and other teams' role players has a chance to finish what would be one of the most remarkable storylines of the 2011-12 NHL campaign. The Panthers have 30 games to play, including two showdowns with Washington in the next 10 days.

Each will be one of the biggest games of the season. If they continue to keep pace with the Capitals, the next trip to Washington on April 5 could be one of the biggest regular-season games in franchise history.

"I credit Dale Tallon," Bradley said. "He knew most of these guys. He had a lot of these guys in Chicago. I think he brought in a lot of the right people. It has worked, but in saying that there is still a long time to go and we're not where we want to be yet."