SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- On Feb. 18, the Minnesota Wild were at the top of the Western Conference and challenging the Washington Capitals for the best record in the NHL.
Minnesota's 84 points at the time sat one behind the total of East-leading Washington. The two teams appeared to be the class of their respective conferences.
As the clubs meet Tuesday in Minnesota, the Capitals have proven themselves over the course of the season and look ready to earn the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular-season team. The Wild are trying to find some semblance of the squad that cruised through December and January.
Washington begins a five-game road trip against the Wild, its longest continuous road trip since 2011. The Capitals (49-17-8) will cover four times zones in five games in eight nights.
"This is, to me, these last number of games here, this trip is crucial for us," Washington coach Barry Trotz told the team's website. "You can put a stamp on the year. This is your moment. We're going on the road, make it happen. There is no reason why you can't. We're healthy, we've just got to play really well. It's plain and simple."
The Capitals have a league-best 106 points -- three points ahead of division opponents Columbus and Pittsburgh -- thanks in part to the league's best home record, 31-6-2. However, Washington is also 18-11-6 on the road.
A Saturday home win against Arizona was the Capitals' fourth victory in a row.
"I think we can take away some good play," forward T.J. Oshie told the team's website, "some stuff that we did, some stuff that we want to continue keeping in our game. It's always tougher on the road, going into other teams' barns, especially starting off with a back-to-back. But we're looking to improve obviously, from our last road trip."
Washington follows Tuesday's game with a game Wednesday in Colorado. The Capitals last trip of longer than one game, March 9-12, they lost all three games on the West Coast.
"We went out there (to California) and we didn't execute the way that we were and we weren't as sharp as we were," Trotz told the team's website. "I think the lesson is that this is a big road trip for us. We've worked all year to put ourselves in a position where this Metro Division and just getting the seeding in the Metro Division has taken a lot of effort, and a lot of good things have happened for us and for the teams that are chasing us."
The Wild (44-24-7) put a lot of work -- including a franchise-record 12 wins in a row in December -- into building up their lead in the West. As of Feb. 18, Minnesota had a nine-point edge on Chicago in the Central Division.
Then the Wild lost to the Blackhawks on Feb. 19 before starting their five-day bye. Minnesota traded for forwards Martin Hanzal and Ryan White during the break and hasn't been the same since. The Wild return from their break only to lose Zach Parise and Jason Pominville to the mumps.
They won their first two games out of the bye but are 3-10-1 since. They clinched a playoff berth Saturday after the Los Angeles Kings lost but have slipped behind Chicago and are all but slotted into second place in the Central Division
"We've got to figure it out," Minnesota forward Zach Parise said told NHL.com "We used to have comfortable leads above teams in the standings, but now all of a sudden that gap has closed. We've got to keep winning to get home ice. We've got to straighten it out."
The Wild were once nearly unbeatable at home. At one point, they were 13-3 at the Xcel Energy Center. After losing their last two home games, to non-playoff teams Philadelphia and Vancouver, Minnesota is 7-6-1 in its past 14 home games.
Following an overtime loss at Detroit on Sunday, the Wild were left preaching positivity.
"That's the best game we've played in a month," Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau told NHL.com. "We played the right way today. We got it deep when we had to get it deep. You didn't see the constant odd-man rushes against for the most part. You saw playing the smart way. We had, I thought, good chances to score and win the game, but we didn't."
