ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Washington Capitals are well aware of what will be at stake when they play the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN).
After losing their past six games (0-4-2), the Capitals (36-30-11) are one point behind the Red Wings (38-31-8) for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and desperately needing a win.
"You want to be playing these types of game," Capitals forward Tom Wilson said Monday. "These are the big games. Obviously it's not the playoffs yet, but they're playoff games for us."
With five regular-season games remaining for each team, the Capitals and Red Wings also got a little help from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in overtime on Monday. With the point, Pittsburgh moved into a tie with Detroit for the second wild card but has played one more game.
The Capitals also are two points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Washington's recent slide put it on the outside of the playoff picture after it was in control of its postseason destiny. A 4-3 overtime win against the Red Wings on March 26 gave the Capitals a two-point lead on Detroit for the second wild card in the East, but they haven't won since.
Following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins on March 30, the Capitals were tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for third in the Metropolitan Division, seven points ahead of the Penguins. The only point they've earned since then was in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
"We're still right there, as crazy as that sounds," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. "We're one win away from potentially, in some way, controlling our own destiny. As much as it's been a struggle to find points, we're still right there. Now having said that, we need to play a lot better."
Washington has scored two goals or fewer in the six-game skid, and has had more than 26 shots on goal once during that span. Still, the Capitals had third-period leads in their past two games and let them slip away each time.
In their 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, they allowed the tying power-play goal to Martin Necas with 8:20 remaining in the third and the winning power-play goal to Sebastian Aho with 1:51 left before Jake Guentzel scored the clinching empty-net goal. Against Ottawa on Sunday, Washington gave up the tying goal to Ridly Greig with 7:11 remaining before Jake Sanderson scored the winning goal 41 seconds into overtime.
"I think sometimes we have a tendency, like in Carolina, that was a game where the way they play, we were sitting back a little bit too much," forward Dylan Strome said. "But the game [against Ottawa], we've got to find a way to put our foot on the pedal a little bit more.
"Like [Aliaksei Protas] gets that goal to make it 2-1 and we've got to find a way to kind of make it 3-1, 4-1, and kind of put that game out of reach, where I feel like we haven't been doing that and obviously it's costing us."
The Capitals will be without defenseman Rasmus Sandin because of an upper-body injury he sustained on a hit from Ottawa's Parker Kelly at the end of the first period Sunday. Sandin, who is second on the Capitals in averaging 21:07 in ice time, did not travel with the team for its two-game trip, which also includes a game against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Defenseman Lucas Johansen was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Monday.
Washington could have some help on the way, though, with forward T.J. Oshie potentially returning from an upper-body injury that sidelined him the past four games.
"I wish I would've been able to come back a little sooner," Oshie said. "Sitting out [stinks]. When the team is winning it makes it a little bit easier. When you're not getting the two points, it's a lonely seat watching from up top or on TV."
The Capitals have enough games left to climb back into a playoff spot, if they get help, but their margin of error is slim after six straight losses.
"A couple of weeks ago we were looking to just get our game and our standard to a certain level and everything else would've taken care of itself," Oshie said. "Now we have to get to that standard and we have to win games. You can use whatever metaphor you want, backs against the wall, do or die, all this other stuff. But we need wins, especially against Detroit."
