Capitals in First Place

In the Southeast Division.

And Atlanta plays tonight and could take the lead with a win.

But for now, it feels good to wake up and see this:



And here's my obligatory two-games-in-one-article recap of the Caps short road trip:
Capitals Take Division Lead with Back-to-Back Wins

I'll be back in the press box for both of this weekends games, and they're big'uns.

On Friday the Caps start a 16 day stretch during which they play seven games, starting and ending with the Hurricanes. Breaking down those games, there are:

Five vs. the Southeast (vs. Carolina, at Atlanta, at Florida, at Tampa Bay, at Carolina).

Two vs non-Southeast teams that are fighting for eighth in the Eastern conference (vs. New York Islanders, vs. New York Rangers).

And four of the seven games are on the road.

If the Caps can earn nine or more points between now and February 23, they're going to be in fantastic shape heading into the last six weeks of the season.