Capitals face Maple Leafs clinging to fading playoff hopes

The Washington Capitals will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

With four games remaining in the regular season, Washington (39-30-9, 87 points) trails three teams in the race for third place in the Metropolitan Division and four teams for the second and final wild card in the Eastern Conference.

The Maple Leafs (32-31-14, 78 points) have been eliminated from playoff contention and return home after losing three of four on a road swing.

Washington is coming off a weekend that saw their chances soar and then plummet in a span of 24 hours.

On Saturday, the Capitals beat the visiting Buffalo Sabres 6-2 in one of their most impressive wins of the season to move within one point of the second wild-card spot after an 8-3-2 stretch. On Sunday, they were routed 8-1 on the road by the last-place New York Rangers.

Connor McMichael scored for the Capitals and Charlie Lindgren allowed all eight goals on 33 shots in his first start since March 12.

"It's frustrating because we fought as hard as we have to get back into this spot where we're within striking distance," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. "Does it take a lot of you? No doubt. But these are big games, and unfortunately, we just didn't have any gas tonight."

Washington will have a new face in the lineup Wednesday as Ilya Protas makes his NHL debut. The 19-year-old has recorded a team-high 62 points (28 goals, 34 assists) in 66 games with Hershey of the American Hockey League (AHL) this season.

Protas leads AHL rookies in points and ranks second in goals among first-year players. The forward was Washington's third-round pick (75th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft.

"It's just unbelievable," Ilya Protas said Tuesday of his promotion. "I couldn't believe it for a second and I was shaky for a bit. Special for sure and can't describe it. I can't wait for tomorrow."

Protas will center a line between his brother, Aliaksei, and Tom Wilson.

On Saturday, the Maple Leafs took the Los Angeles Kings to overtime before losing 7-6. It was the first time Toronto lost when scoring at least six goals since April 5, 2022, also in a 7-6 overtime loss that came against the Florida Panthers.

Matthew Knies had two goals with two assists and John Tavares had a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll allowed the seven goals on 40 shots as Toronto led 2-0 through one period and later rallied from a 6-4 third-period deficit to force overtime.

"Certainly, the entertainment value was really high," Tavares said. "For us, we had a lot of leads in this game, and I think for us to just (be) a little bit loose, execution, some of our decisions, just some mistakes that hurt us."

Tavares has seven points in a three-game point streak (four goals, three assists) and reached 30 goals in a season for the eighth time.

"I'm just trying to work for my game to be what I expect it to be and try to get as much value as you can out of our finish to the season here," Tavares said.

--Field Level Media