Capital Karma

By now you know that the Caps beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1, Saturday night to clinch the Southeast Division title and earn the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. You probably also know that they will face their old Patrick Division rival Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, starting Friday night at Verizon Center (7 p.m., Versus).

And you also might have heard that Alex Ovechkin captured the Art Ross Trophy for most points (112) and Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for most goals (65). Maybe you even got word that Mike Green led all blueliners in goals (18) -- meaning Ovie and Green are the first teammates since Mario Lemeiux and Paul Coffey to pull off that feat.

But there's always more to discuss. This week will provide ample time for analysis of the Flyers' series (and the other playoff match-ups, which start Wednesday). It also will provide space to break down the Caps' strong finish: they went 28-12-3 in 2008, posting 59 points in the season's last three months.

Today's subject is an attempt to quantify how many things went right for the Caps to make this all possible. There's no way to include everything, but I'll certainly try.

Drafting Alex Ovechkin: This one goes without saying and, thanks to the OFB Team, we can relive that moment from April 6, 2004 when the Caps got the top pick in the seminal draft.

The Other First Rounders: The Caps had two other first-round picks in 2004 and, thanks to them, Jeff Schultz and Green are Caps. In 2006, the team selected Nicklas Backstrom with the fourth overall pick.

Previous Trades: The picks used to draft Schultz and Green were acquired when the Caps traded Sergei Gonchar (March 3, 2004) and Robert Lang (Feb. 27, 2004), respectively. Brooks Laich came to Washington when the Caps sent Peter Bondra to Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2004. Tomas Fleischmann was included in the Lang trade, while Shaone Morrisonn came to town in the Gonchar transaction.

Other Quiet Deals: Chris Clark, Matt Bradley, Dave Steckel, Donald Brashear and Milan Jurcina all were acquired in relatively low-key transactions in 2005 and 2006.

The Slow Start: If the Caps hadn't started this season with a 6-14-1 record, then Glenn Hanlon might have remained behind the bench -- and this whole renaissance may never have occurred. Those first 21 games showed that Hanlon's system wasn't the best fit for these Caps and GM George McPhee smartly made the move to hire Bruce Boudreau.

No Early-Season Major Trades: With rumors flying that Ilya Bryzgalov might be traded to Washington, GMGM stuck with Olie Kolzig and Brent Johnson. Bryzgalov went to the Phoenix Coyotes and Brian Sutherby ended up with the Ducks.

The Second-Half Collapses: One by one, teams that surged in the first half started to fall. The Ottawa Senators might be the poster child of this trend, but they certainly are not the only participant. The New York Islanders, Atlanta Thrashers, Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers all were hovering around a playoff spot in January (and longer in the case of the Sabres and Panthers) before tanking.

Thrashing North: If Marian Hossa wasn't rumored to go to Montreal at the deadline, then Cristobal Huet might have never been traded to Washington. Granted, Habs GM Bob Gainey maintained that the trade was planned all along (handing the goaltending reigns to Carey Price) -- but one still has to wonder if the rumors about Hossa (who wound up in Pittsburgh) made an impact.

Petty Panderings: If Matt Pettinger's season hadn't gone down the tubes, would Matt Cooke have been traded to the Caps? Cooke has been a great story since donning the red, white and blue. Pettinger's new team, the Vancouver Canucks, missed the playoffs.

Blue Jacket Bombing: The Columbus Blue Jackets' futility and an expiring contract led them to trade Sergei Fedorov to the Caps. Since joining D.C., Fedorov's contributions have extended well beyond his stats -- and solidified the Caps' second line and power play.

Lightning Crashes: While the Tampa Bay Lightning never got close to a playoff spot, they certainly affected several other teams. Their first strike was a 3-1 win over the Panthers on March 25, which started Florida's three-game losing streak that led to their elimination. The 'Ning then lost to the Caps and beat the Hurricanes over the next few days in late March to help set the stage for the great April finish.

Laviolette Languishing: The Carolina Hurricanes slowed down as the season progressed, while the Caps greatly improved. The Caps won their last seven and the 'Canes went 2-5 over that stretch-- including the 4-3 loss to the Panthers that did in their season. The 'Canes also became the first team ever to miss the playoffs in the two years after winning a Stanley Cup. Ouch.

Although the road there was extremely unconventional, the Caps accomplished their best-case scenario for the 2007-08 season -- and could have a long playoff journey ahead. Look for much more on the Caps and the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs as the week continues.