The door is officially open for the Washington Capitals. Thanks to Carolina's choke -- umm, unexpected loss -- and Philadelphia's win against New Jersey, the Caps will either earn one or two points tomorrow night against the Panthers and win the Southeast Division or they will miss the playoffs altogether.

Those who believe Carolina likes to, um, fall down a lot, were probably feeling vindicated watching that game. The Hurricanes somehow drew nine penalties without taking one themselves and still couldn't beat a team with nothing to play for and actually had to switch goalies during the game.

There was also a pretty crazy end to the Boston-Ottawa game. I wonder if the final minute or so will be up on YouTube soon, because Jack Edwards went a little over the top with his call. And by a little, I mean he was literally screaming into the microphone about how the Bruins were going to make the playoffs when no one picked them to do so. It was a bit much. The NESN guys also kept saying the B's can't pass Ottawa and will have to play Montreal or Pittsburgh, but they still have a game left and both teams have 94 points. Unless I am missing something, if the Bruins beat the Sabres or lose in overtime, they will pass Ottawa.

As for the Philly-Jersey game, I honestly didn't watch much of it. It seemed pretty clear pretty quickly the Devils just didn't have it. The Flyers can also pass Ottawa with a win against Pittsburgh on Sunday, so who the Caps would play in the first round is still far from resolved.

-- Corey Masisak