The Vancouver begin the first of a four game home-stand with a big Cascadia Cup clash against the high-flying Portland Timbers Saturday at BC Place.

On Wednesday the Caps nabbed their third straight Canadian Championship. A win on Saturday would leave them on the brink of winning more hardware.

By my math, the Caps can’t clinch the Cascadia Cup outright but a win over Portland would leave them on 10 points, requiring Seattle to win both of their matches and come up with a better goal differential.

Yet, victory is far from a given. Portland took four points from two of the best teams in the West, Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy, scoring an eye popping seven goals in the process. The only team that has scored more goals per match this season is Inter Miami, and Portland is on track to make history with having three players tally 15 goals or more.

The Timbers love a long ball over the top, hitting in transition with their dynamic attack of Evander, Jonathan Rodriguez, Felipe Mora and Santiago Moreno. This is the team that nearly came back to grab a result at BC Place down two goals and who comfortably handled the Caps at home in the reverse fixture. Evander has been getting way more touches in way more dangerous areas than he did last year, in large part helped by the ball carrying abilities of Rodriguez.

The good news for the Caps, however, is that Evander is suspended for this one, undoubtedly a big blow as the Brazilian has been mounting a compelling MVP case.

Portland seemed to be making progress on their bugaboo: getting overrun in midfield and leaving their shaky backline out to dry. Their goals conceded per match is the worst of any playoff team but not by a massive amount.

The RSL and LA matches, however, saw some backsliding. Diego Chara is Diego Chara but age has limited his effectiveness and this is still a team that can be cut open on the counter, which plays right into the Caps’ hands.

Vancouver’s squad will likely have had their hangovers recede by the time Saturday rolls around but Ryan Gauld and Ali Ahmed are questionable, leaving the Caps with their own potential misses. Stuart Armstrong still seems short of the fitness level required to start so it might be a chance for Sebastian Berhalter, Levonte Johnson and Alessandro Schopf, none of whom started on Wednesday, to break into the starting XI.

This is a big match for the Caps. The congestion in the Western Conference standings means the Caps could rise as high as fifth or sink below the Timbers into eight, depending on how other results around the league play out. The Caps certainly would rather avoid a play-in game and would also like to avoid either of the two LA teams in the first round of the postseason. A win or a draw could be enough to see them clinch a postseason spot, depending on what other teams do.

An Evander-less Portland is beatable but still dangerous, given the depth of attacking options at their disposal. While Vancouver didn’t play at their best on Wednesday, hopefully the thrill of winning a trophy gives them a lift as the stretch run begins in earnest. This isn’t a must win for the Caps but it isn’t far off, given the playoff and Cascadia Cup implications.