It could happen...

Philadelphia has 11 games left. They have a five-point lead on the Caps for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers have had 11 game stretches that have not gone well...

November 28 - December 22: 3-7-1

The Flyers beat Carolina (3-1) in the first game of this 11-game stretch and pounded Pittsburgh (8-2). Their losses were to some pretty good teams -- the only losses to non-top-eight teams were to Phoenix and to Buffalo (twice, once in a shootout).

February 6 - February 28: 1-8-2

This stretch started with a 4-3 loss to the Capitals and launched the Flyers on a ten-game winless streak. They ended the slide in the 11th game of this run, a 4-3 shootout win over Buffalo. Again, they lost to some pretty good teams here. The losses to non-top-eight teams were to Washington, the Islanders, Tampa Bay, and Florida (in overtime).

February 21 - March 12 (current): 5-3-3

While their most recent 11 games suggests a reversal of fortune from those two bad stretches, they are only 2-2-1 in their last five, all against non-top-eight teams. They've lost to Bufflo and Toronto (twice, once in overtime).

Their last 11 is quite a challenge (as if the Caps' isn't), their records against those teams this season in parentheses:

@Boston (1-1-1)
@Pittsburgh (4-1-0)
Atlanta (3-0-0)
NY Rangers (1-3-2)
NY Islanders (5-1-0)
@NY Rangers (1-3-2)
@New Jersey (1-5-0)
@NY Islanders (5-1-0)
@Pittsburgh (4-1-0)
New Jersey (1-5-0)
Pittsburgh (4-1-0)

The Flyers are 4-2-2 since losing Mike Richards to injury, but in those eight games, they've played only two top-eight teams -- the reeling Senators and the Rangers.

And, speaking of injury, Richards remains out with a hamstring injury, Joffrey Lupul just returned on March 12th after sustaining a high-ankle sprain, and Daniel Briere has been dealing with shoulder problems. Simon Gagne is out for the year with a concussion.

Of course, none of this matters if the Capitals don't win, and in the end that is the only thing the Caps hold in their hands -- the ability to put pressure on a team like the Flyers by just winning.