Sunday's result mattered enormously for Washington, as the club knocked off Pittsburgh to keep its season breathing. Had they dropped that contest in regulation, their postseason hopes would already be over. Rather than fade out, the resilient Caps locked down a 3-0 shutout and kept pursuing the Metropolitan Division's third position.
Elsewhere on the schedule, a pair of Atlantic Division clubs handed Washington exactly the outcomes it needed.
Montreal handled New York's Islanders by a 3-1 regulation final, a result that knocked the Isles out of the running entirely.
Boston, meanwhile, edged the Blue Jackets 3-2, and that defeat let Washington climb past Columbus into fourth place within the Metro.
Here is where the divisional picture sits at the moment.
How the Metro stacked up after the April 12 slate
Image courtesy of the league's official standings page
Philadelphia, with a Monday date against Carolina followed by a Tuesday meeting with Montreal, carries one extra game in reserve relative to both Washington and Columbus.
Routes to grabbing the division's No. 3 seed
- Should the Flyers collect a minimum of two points in the standings across their two remaining outings, their playoff berth is locked.
- Should Washington top Columbus by any result on Tuesday while Philadelphia gathers only a single point across what remains of its schedule, the Caps advance thanks to owning the regulation-wins tiebreaker.
- Should Philadelphia fall in regulation both times and Columbus likewise beat Washington in regulation, it is Columbus that would advance, since the Jackets own the regulation-wins edge over Philly.
- Should Philadelphia fall in regulation both times while Columbus tops Washington in either an overtime or a shootout finish, the Caps would go through, holding the regulation-wins edge over Philly as well as Columbus.
That means as Tuesday's meeting at Nationwide Arena approaches, the lone scenario rendering the Caps-Columbus clash meaningless is a Flyers triumph over the Hurricanes during Monday's tilt inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.
MoneyPuck's model gives Washington a 13.2 percent shot at qualifying, with Philadelphia's number now sitting around 80.5 percent.
As the analytics site noted, Philadelphia's number jumped to that 80.5 percent figure once the Islanders and Columbus both lost, a development MoneyPuck shared publicly on April 13, 2026.
Still, there remains a sliver of opportunity.