2017–18 Washington Capitals season

The 2017–18 Washington Capitals season was the 44th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974.[1] They played their home games at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. They were led by head coach Barry Trotz in his fourth season as coach of the Capitals. The Capitals won their first Stanley Cup in organization history, defeating the inaugural-season Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals.

2017–18 Washington Capitals
Stanley Cup champions
Eastern Conference champions
Metropolitan Division champions
Division1st Metropolitan
Conference3rd Eastern
2017–18 record49–26–7
Home record28–11–2
Road record21–15–5
Goals for259
Goals against239
Team information
General managerBrian MacLellan
CoachBarry Trotz
CaptainAlexander Ovechkin
Alternate captainsNicklas Backstrom
Brooks Orpik
ArenaCapital One Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)Hershey Bears (AHL)
South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsAlexander Ovechkin (49)
AssistsEvgeny Kuznetsov (56)
PointsAlexander Ovechkin (87)
Penalty minutesTom Wilson (187)
Plus/minusMatt Niskanen (+24)
WinsBraden Holtby (34)
Goals against averagePhilipp Grubauer (2.35)

The team finished the regular season with 105 points, winning the Metropolitan Division for the third year in a row. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they lost the first two games of their first round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets before winning the next four games to advance to the Conference Semifinals against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended the Capitals' playoffs each of the previous two years.[2][3] The Capitals defeated the Penguins in six games to advance the Eastern Conference Finals, their first trip to a conference championship series since 1998.[4] The Capitals defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games, after overcoming a 3-2 series deficit following a Game 5 loss for the first time in franchise history, to earn their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1998, when they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.[5][6] The Capitals faced the first-year Vegas Golden Knights and defeated them in five games to earn the organization's first ever Stanley Cup,[7][8] while becoming the 100th Stanley Cup champions since 1914. Alexander Ovechkin was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.[9]

Standings

Metropolitan Division
Pos Team GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 y Washington Capitals 82 49 26 7 46 259 239 +20 105
2 x Pittsburgh Penguins 82 47 29 6 45 272 250 +22 100
3 x Philadelphia Flyers 82 42 26 14 40 251 243 +8 98
4 x Columbus Blue Jackets 82 45 30 7 39 242 230 +12 97
5 x New Jersey Devils 82 44 29 9 39 248 244 +4 97
6 Carolina Hurricanes 82 36 35 11 33 228 256 28 83
7 New York Islanders 82 35 37 10 32 264 296 32 80
8 New York Rangers 82 34 39 9 31 231 268 37 77
Source: National Hockey League
x Clinched playoff spot; y Clinched division.

Schedule and results

Preseason

The Capitals' preseason schedule was released on June 7, 2017.[10]

Regular season

The team released its regular season schedule on June 22, 2017.[11]

2017–18 game log

  Win (2 Points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

The Capitals endured hardships during their first successful Stanley Cup run through 24 games, and simultaneously became the second Stanley Cup champion to trail at least once in all four playoff rounds (1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins) and the fourth to drop the first two games of the first series at home (2001–02 Detroit Red Wings, 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes, and 2010–11 Boston Bruins). This also makes such run the third-longest Stanley Cup run, tied with four other runs.[12]

2018 Stanley Cup playoffs

  Win   Loss

Player statistics

Final Stats[13]

Skaters
Goaltenders
Regular season[13]
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Braden Holtby54543,067:48341641532.991,648.9070002
Philipp Grubauer35281,864:4815103732.35953.9233010
Playoffs
Player GP GS TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Braden Holtby23221385:45167502.16639.9222012
Philipp Grubauer22105:230184.5549.8370000

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Capitals. Statistics reflect time with the Capitals only.
Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics reflect time with the Capitals only.

Transactions

The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2017–18 season.

Trades

DateDetailsRef
July 3, 2017 (2017-07-03) To New Jersey Devils
Marcus Johansson
To Washington Capitals
FLA's 2nd-round pick in 2018
TOR's 3rd-round pick in 2018
[14]
February 9, 2018 (2018-02-09) To New York Rangers
John Albert
Hubert Labrie
To Washington Capitals
Adam Chapie
Joe Whitney
[15]
February 19, 2018 (2018-02-19) To Chicago Blackhawks
Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2018
To Washington Capitals
Michal Kempny
[16]
February 21, 2018 (2018-02-21) To Montreal Canadiens
5th-round draft pick in 2019
To Washington Capitals
Jakub Jerabek
[17]
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