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Posted at 12:00 PM EST

7:05 EST. OT included. The Washington Capitals edged Montreal, 2-1 in the District last night. With the win, the Caps locked down the Metro crown for the fourth straight year and did the Blue Jackets a solid, dealing a serious blow to the Habs' chances to make the postseason. Carolina became the seventh team in the Eastern Conference to secure a playoff spot with a win against the Devils. This will be the Hurricanes first trip to the postseason in a decade. To be determined: whether the Canes finish in the WIld Card 1 or WC2 spot. If the Jackets beat the Rangers tonight, they’re in and Montreal misses the playoffs.

The Jackets would do themselves a favor if they win the first Wild Card spot and not the second. If the Jackets do make the playoffs – and Money Puck's model gives them an 87.53% chance of getting in at this point – they will face Tampa Bay, winners of the Atlantic Division or Washington, tops in the Metropolitan Division. If they can jump up into WC1, they'll face Washington. Columbus went 3–1 against the Caps in the regular season, handling them the last time they met, and gave them a good scare in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year. If they land in WC2, they're getting Tampa Bay, which means death. The Lightning's 124 points are currently the fifth-most in NHL history and they have spanked the Blue Jackets this season. The Jackets went 0–3 against the Bolts, outscored 17-3 in three blowouts: 8-2, 4-0, and 5-1. After tonight, the Jackets play Ottawa so it would take a major collapse for the Jackets to miss the playoffs. The Jackets will miss the playoffs if they get one point or fewer in its final two games and Montreal beats Toronto tomorrow. Why? Montreal will finish with 96 points to Columbus' 95 or 94 in this scenario. The Leafs are locked into their playoff spot so there is a great chance that Toronto will rest some players tomorrow.

If you hadn’t already, you all know the deal now. It’s a “must-win” game for the Jackets, just like it was for them on Tuesday when the Bruins came calling. The Jackets lost 6-2. Now, we understand that the Rangers are not the Bruins and the Jackets will have all hands on deck for this one. You are going to see every player on the Jackets play their hearts out on every shift. However, the Rangers have nothing to lose while the Jackets have everything to lose. All the pressure is on the Jackets and this team and its current players have never done anything good under pressure. Furthermore, do you really think the Rags are going to lie down? For the Rangers, they’ll treat this one like it’s the seventh game of a playoff series and they, too, will play all out on every single shift. This is no gimme for the Jackets but in another “must-win”, one will pay a seriously inflated price to get behind them. That makes the Rangers very playable in a game they absolutely can win.

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