“Kings of Leonsis” – I feel funny typing that title.

Yes, of course, we are all concerned.

We won the game. We get two points but the win wasn’t in the manner we all expected or wanted or desired emotionally. We all wanted us to win 6-0 to make amends for the shutout the night before. I “get it.”

But it was a professional win against a team that has nothing to lose and plays with passion and with the upside of youth and a rebuild. We now have 76 points and 19 games left to play. We remain in 5th place in the East.

The trading deadline is here. It is an exciting and fun time for fans. And for media.

One team makes a big trade and then losses a bunch of games immediately afterwards. Was that us with our mid season trade or another team right now? You decide. It isn’t as easy in real life as it looks on paper.

We would like to add jump and difference to our team. Every team in playoff contention wants to. What we don’t want to do is dramatically change our team with a rental in exchange for several talented young assets. That isn’t what we believe in. Change can be good and it can be bad.

I am hopeful we can add some vets to help us improve in the short term. That is our challenge. Wish us luck.

It was nice to see our first line get a lot of production last night.

It was nice to see our penalty kill stop 6 power plays.

It was nice to see some players that are really banged up gut it out and play for each other and for our coach last night. We have some players that are warriors and play hurt and just don’t whine and complain. I am grateful.

I am grateful to get two points on the road.

We remain short-handed with many options for our staff out of the lineup. And with several players laboring under a long season of bumps and bruises.

I thought we played a professional grade road game last night. We won a close one.

We played a rookie goaltender from Hershey who had two tough outings for the Caps earlier in the season. He played quite well with poise and determination. Our team rallied around him. Well done.

We have 60 points. There are 34 games left to play. We are 5th in the East. We are 7th in the NHL in terms of points. We are 7 points out of first place in the entire NHL but we are only 8 points securely in a playoff spot in the East. The NHL is hyper competitive. We can’t rest. We have to play and get points in any manner possible as we did last night.

The Southeast Division is also one of the toughest in the NHL. It is possible that 4 teams in the division could qualify for the playoffs. Name me one expert that called that out as a possibility when the season began?

It is a grind of a season.

We have 3 more games left to play before the All-Star break.

I am hopeful that after the All-Star break, we will regain several players back into the lineup. That will be very helpful. Many hands make light work. The ability to get continuity and spread out scoring across multiple lines will be most welcomed.

We don’t make excuses. No one feels sorry for anyone in professional sports. Go Caps!