2018–19 Washington Capitals season

2018–19 Washington Capitals
Metropolitan Division Champions
Division	1st Metropolitan
Conference	3rd Eastern
2018–19 record	48–26–8
Home record	24–11–6
Road record	24–15–2
Goals for	278
Goals against	249
Team information
General Manager	Brian MacLellan
Coach	Todd Reirden
Captain	Alexander Ovechkin
Alternate captains	Nicklas Backstrom Brooks Orpik
Arena	Capital One Arena
Minor league affiliations	Hershey Bears (AHL) South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexander Ovechkin (51)
Assists	John Carlson (57)
Points	Alexander Ovechkin (89)
Penalties in minutes	Tom Wilson (128)
Plus/minus	Michal Kempny (+24)
Wins	Braden Holtby (32)
Goals against average	Braden Holtby (2.82)
<2017–18	2019–20>

The 2018–19 Washington Capitals season was the 45th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. It was the first season with new head coach Todd Reirden. They entered the season as the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Capitals clinched a playoff spot on March 28, 2019, after a 3–2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. On April 4, the team defended their division title in a 2–1 win against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Capitals faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they lost in seven games.

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2018.

2018 preseason game log: 2–3–2 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 1–2–1) Game Date Opponent Score Record 1 September 16 @ Boston 1–2 SO 0–0–1 2 September 18 Boston 2–5 0–1–1 3 September 20 @ Montreal 2–5 0–2–1 4 September 21 @ Carolina 1–5 0–3–1 5 September 25 @ St. Louis 4–0 1–3–1 6 September 28 Carolina 4–5 OT 1–3–2 7 September 30 St. Louis 5–2 2–3–2

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.

2018–19 game log
October: 5–3–2, 12 points (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 2–2–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 3 Boston 7–0 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 4 @ Pittsburgh 6–7 OT Holtby PPG Paints Arena 18,627 1–0–1 3 Recap 3 October 10 Vegas 5–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 2–0–1 5 Recap 4 October 11 @ New Jersey 0–6 Copley Prudential Center 16,514 2–1–1 5 Recap 5 October 13 Toronto 2–4 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 2–2–1 5 Recap 6 October 17 NY Rangers 4–3 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 3–2–1 7 Recap 7 October 19 Florida 5–6 SO Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 3–2–2 8 Recap 8 October 22 @ Vancouver 5–2 Holtby Rogers Arena 17,227 4–2–2 10 Recap 9 October 25 @ Edmonton 1–4 Holtby Rogers Place 18,347 4–3–2 10 Recap 10 October 27 @ Calgary 4–3 SO Copley Scotiabank Saddledome 17,832 5–3–2 12 Recap
November: 10–4–1, 21 points (Home: 5–2–1; Road: 5–2–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 11 November 1 @ Montreal 4–6 Holtby Bell Centre 20,279 5–4–2 12 Recap 12 November 3 Dallas 3–4 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 5–4–3 13 Recap 13 November 5 Edmonton 4–2 Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 6–4–3 15 Recap 14 November 7 Pittsburgh 2–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 7–4–3 17 Recap 15 November 9 Columbus 1–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 7–5–3 17 Recap 16 November 11 Arizona 1–4 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 7–6–3 17 Recap 17 November 13 @ Minnesota 5–2 Copley Xcel Energy Center 19,101 8–6–3 19 Recap 18 November 14 @ Winnipeg 1–3 Copley Bell MTS Place 15,321 8–7–3 19 Recap 19 November 16 @ Colorado 3–2 OT Copley Pepsi Center 18,050 9–7–3 21 Recap 20 November 19 @ Montreal 5–4 OT Holtby Bell Centre 21,911 10–7–3 23 Recap 21 November 21 Chicago 4–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 11–7–3 25 Recap 22 November 23 Detroit 3–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 12–7–3 27 Recap 23 November 24 @ NY Rangers 5–3 Copley Madison Square Garden 16,884 13–7–3 29 Recap 24 November 26 @ NY Islanders 4–1 Holtby Barclays Center 9,072 14–7–3 31 Recap 25 November 30 New Jersey 6–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 15–7–3 33 Recap
December: 9–4–0, 18 points (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 5–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 26 December 2 Anaheim 5–6 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 15–8–3 33 Recap 27 December 4 @ Vegas 3–5 Holtby T-Mobile Arena 18,275 15–9–3 33 Recap 28 December 6 @ Arizona 4–2 Copley Gila River Arena 11,910 16–9–3 35 Recap 29 December 8 @ Columbus 4–0 Holtby Nationwide Arena 18,501 17–9–3 37 Recap 30 December 11 Detroit 6–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 18–9–3 39 Recap 31 December 14 @ Carolina 6–5 SO Holtby PNC Arena 14,446 19–9–3 41 Recap 32 December 15 Buffalo 4–3 SO Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 20–9–3 43 Recap 33 December 19 Pittsburgh 1–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 20–10–3 43 Recap 34 December 21 Buffalo 2–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 21–10–3 45 Recap 35 December 22 @ Ottawa 4–0 Copley Canadian Tire Centre 15,605 22–10–3 47 Recap 36 December 27 Carolina 3–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 23–10–3 49 Recap 37 December 29 @ Ottawa 3–2 Copley Canadian Tire Centre 16,808 24–10–3 51 Recap 38 December 31 Nashville 3–6 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 24–11–3 51 Recap
January: 3–6–3, 9 points (Home: 1–2–2; Road: 2–4–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 39 January 3 @ St. Louis 2–5 Holtby Enterprise Center 17,200 24–12–3 51 Recap 40 January 4 @ Dallas 1–2 OT Copley American Airlines Center 18,532 24–12–4 52 Recap 41 January 6 @ Detroit 3–2 Holtby Little Caesars Arena 19,515 25–12–4 54 Recap 42 January 8 Philadelphia 5–3 Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 26–12–4 56 Recap 43 January 10 @ Boston 4–2 Holtby TD Garden 17,565 27–12–4 58 Recap 44 January 12 Columbus 1–2 OT Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 27–12–5 59 Recap 45 January 14 St. Louis 1–4 Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 27–13–5 59 Recap 46 January 15 @ Nashville 2–7 Copley Bridgestone Arena 17,336 27–14–5 59 Recap 47 January 18 NY Islanders 0–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 27–15–5 59 Recap 48 January 20 @ Chicago 5–8 Copley United Center 21,316 27–16–5 59 Recap 49 January 22 San Jose 6–7 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 27–16–6 60 Recap 50 January 23 @ Toronto 3–6 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 19,148 27–17–6 60 Recap
February: 9–4–1, 19 points (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 3–3–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 51 February 1 Calgary 4–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 28–17–6 62 Recap 52 February 3 Boston 0–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 28–18–6 62 Recap 53 February 5 Vancouver 3–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 29–18–6 64 Recap 54 February 7 Colorado 4–3 OT Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 30–18–6 66 Recap 55 February 9 Florida 4–5 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 30–18–7 67 Recap 56 February 11 Los Angeles 6–4 Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 31–18–7 69 Recap 57 February 12 @ Columbus 0–3 Holtby Nationwide Arena 15,701 31–19–7 69 Recap 58 February 14 @ San Jose 5–1 Holtby SAP Center 17,562 32–19–7 71 Recap 59 February 17 @ Anaheim 2–5 Holtby Honda Center 17,495 32–20–7 71 Recap 60 February 18 @ Los Angeles 3–2 Copley Staples Center 18,230 33–20–7 73 Recap 61 February 21 @ Toronto 3–2 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 19,378 34–20–7 75 Recap 62 February 23 @ Buffalo 2–5 Holtby KeyBank Center 19,070 34–21–7 75 Recap 63 February 24 NY Rangers 6–5 OT Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 35–21–7 77 Recap 64 February 26 Ottawa 7–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 36–21–7 79 Recap
March: 11–3–1, 23 points (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 7–2–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 65 March 1 @ NY Islanders 3–1 Holtby Nassau Coliseum 13,971 37–21–7 81 Recap 66 March 3 @ NY Rangers 3–2 SO Holtby Madison Square Garden 17,517 38–21–7 83 Recap 67 March 6 @ Philadelphia 5–3 Holtby Wells Fargo Center 19,232 39–21–7 85 Recap 68 March 8 New Jersey 3–0 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 40–21–7 87 Recap 69 March 10 Winnipeg 3–1 Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 41–21–7 89 Recap 70 March 12 @ Pittsburgh 3–5 Holtby PPG Paints Arena 18,640 41–22–7 89 Recap 71 March 14 @ Philadelphia 5–2 Holtby Wells Fargo Center 19,475 42–22–7 91 Recap 72 March 16 @ Tampa Bay 3–6 Holtby Amalie Arena 19,092 42–23–7 91 Recap 73 March 19 @ New Jersey 4–1 Copley Prudential Center 14,815 43–23–7 93 Recap 74 March 20 Tampa Bay 4–5 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 43–23–8 94 Recap 75 March 22 Minnesota 1–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 43–24–8 94 Recap 76 March 24 Philadelphia 3–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 44–24–8 96 Recap 77 March 26 Carolina 4–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 45–24–8 98 Recap 78 March 28 @ Carolina 3–2 Holtby PNC Arena 14,680 46–24–8 100 Recap 79 March 30 @ Tampa Bay 6–3 Holtby Amalie Arena 19,092 47–24–8 102 Recap
April: 1–2–0, 2 points (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 80 April 1 @ Florida 3–5 Copley BB&T Center 14,376 47–25–8 102 Recap 81 April 4 Montreal 2–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 48–25–8 104 Recap 82 April 6 NY Islanders 0–3 Copley Capital One Arena 18,506 48–26–8 104 Recap
Win (2 Points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Capitals faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round of the playoffs, and were defeated in seven games.

2019 Stanley Cup playoffs
Eastern Conference First Round vs. (WC1) Carolina Hurricanes: Carolina won 4–3 Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Series Recap 1 April 11 Carolina 4–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 1–0 Recap 2 April 13 Carolina 4–3 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 2–0 Recap 3 April 15 @ Carolina 0–5 Holtby PNC Arena 18,783 2–1 Recap 4 April 18 @ Carolina 1–2 Holtby PNC Arena 19,202 2–2 Recap 5 April 20 Carolina 6–0 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 3–2 Recap 6 April 22 @ Carolina 2–5 Holtby PNC Arena 18,913 3–3 Recap 7 April 24 Carolina 3–4 2OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 3–4 Recap
Win       Loss

Player statistics

As of April 24, 2019

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Alexander Ovechkin	81	51	38	89	7	40
Nicklas Backstrom	80	22	52	74	2	30
Evgeny Kuznetsov	76	21	51	72	7	50
John Carlson	80	13	57	70	21	34
T. J. Oshie	69	25	29	54	5	36
Jakub Vrana	82	24	23	47	20	27
Brett Connolly	81	22	24	46	13	24
Tom Wilson	63	22	18	40	11	128
Lars Eller	81	13	23	36	–1	37
Dmitry Orlov	82	3	26	29	3	33
Andre Burakovsky	76	12	13	25	2	14
Matt Niskanen	80	8	17	25	–3	41
Michal Kempny	71	6	19	25	24	60
Nic Dowd	64	8	14	22	10	20
Travis Boyd	53	5	15	20	6	6
Chandler Stephenson	64	5	6	11	–13	0
Carl Hagelin†	20	3	8	11	7	10
Christian Djoos	45	1	9	10	9	4
Brooks Orpik	53	2	7	9	8	32
Devante Smith-Pelly	54	4	4	8	–6	15
Dmitrij Jaskin	37	2	6	8	–5	6
Madison Bowey‡	33	1	5	6	3	38
Nick Jensen†	20	0	5	5	3	4
Jonas Siegenthaler	26	0	4	4	6	10
Tyler Lewington	2	1	1	2	3	7
Nathan Walker	3	0	1	1	1	2

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Alexander Ovechkin	7	4	5	9	–2	19
Nicklas Backstrom	7	5	3	8	–4	4
Evgeny Kuznetsov	7	1	5	6	–1	2
Tom Wilson	7	3	2	5	1	2
John Carlson	7	0	5	5	0	6
Dmitry Orlov	7	0	4	4	–2	4
Lars Eller	7	1	2	3	–1	2
Brett Connolly	7	2	0	2	–2	6
T. J. Oshie	4	1	1	2	0	4
Brooks Orpik	7	1	1	2	–1	0
Andre Burakovsky	7	1	1	2	–3	0
Matt Niskanen	7	0	2	2	0	0
Nic Dowd	7	1	0	1	–1	6
Carl Hagelin	7	0	1	1	–1	0
Jakub Vrana	7	0	0	0	–1	6
Chandler Stephenson	6	0	0	0	–2	2
Devante Smith-Pelly	3	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Jensen	7	0	0	0	–2	2
Jonas Siegenthaler	4	0	0	0	0	2
Christian Djoos	3	0	0	0	–3	0
Travis Boyd	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MIN	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	59	58	3,406:34	32	19	5	160	2.82	1,795	.911	3	0	2	2
Pheonix Copley	27	24	1,528:56	16	7	3	74	2.90	776	.905	1	0	1	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	7	7	448:58	3	4	20	2.67	233	.914	1	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Capitals. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22)	To Colorado Avalanche Philipp Grubauer Brooks Orpik	To Washington Capitals 2nd-round pick in 2018 – Kody Clark
June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23)	To Vancouver Canucks 6th-round pick in 2018 – Artyom Manukyan 6th-round pick in 2019	To Washington Capitals 6th-round pick in 2018 – Alex Kannok-Leipert
February 21, 2019 (2019-02-21)	To Los Angeles Kings 3rd-round pick in 2019 Conditional 6th-round pick in 2020	To Washington Capitals Carl Hagelin
February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22)	To Detroit Red Wings Madison Bowey 2nd-round pick in 2020	To Washington Capitals Nick Jensen BUF's 5th-round pick in 2019

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Jay Beagle	to Vancouver Canucks	4-year
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Nic Dowd	from Vancouver Canucks	1-year
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Tyler Graovac	to Calgary Flames	1-year
July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02)	Jayson Megna	from Vancouver Canucks	1-year
July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02)	Michael Sgarbossa	from Winnipeg Jets	1-year
July 10, 2018 (2018-07-10)	Joe Whitney	to Linköpings (SHL)	2-year
July 24, 2018 (2018-07-24)	Brooks Orpik	from Colorado Avalanche	1-year
August 2, 2018 (2018-08-02)	Tim McGauley	to Colorado Eagles (AHL)	Unknown
August 13, 2018 (2018-08-13)	Zach Sill	to Sparta Praha (ELH)	Unknown
August 15, 2018 (2018-08-15)	Adam Carlson	to Rapid City Rush (ECHL)	1-year
August 16, 2018 (2018-08-16)	Wayne Simpson	to Rochester Americans (AHL)	1-year
August 21, 2018 (2018-08-21)	Anthony Peluso	to Calgary Flames	1-year
September 1, 2018 (2018-09-01)	Sergei Shumakov	from CSKA Moscow (KHL)	1-year
October 2, 2018 (2018-10-02)	Alex Chiasson	to Edmonton Oilers	1-year
February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25)	Parker Milner	from Hershey Bears (AHL)	1-year
March 18, 2019 (2019-03-18)	Joe Snively	from Yale Bulldogs (ECAC Hockey)	2-year
April 5, 2019 (2019-04-05)	Bobby Nardella	from Notre Dame Fighting Irish (B1G)	2-year

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
October 2, 2018 (2018-10-02)	Dmitrij Jaskin	from St. Louis Blues

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Ref
December 7, 2018 (2018-12-07)	Sergei Shumakov	Mutual termination
May 1, 2019 (2019-05-01)	Maximilian Kammerer	Mutual termination
May 18, 2019 (2019-05-18)	Juuso Ikonen	Mutual termination

Retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
June 24, 2018 (2018-06-24)	John Carlson	8-year
June 28, 2018 (2018-06-28)	Devante Smith-Pelly	1-year
June 29, 2018 (2018-06-29)	Michal Kempny	4-year
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Travis Boyd	2-year
July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02)	Riley Barber	1-year
July 13, 2018 (2018-07-13)	Liam O'Brien	1-year
July 19, 2018 (2018-07-19)	Madison Bowey	2-year
July 24, 2018 (2018-07-24)	Brooks Orpik	1-year
July 27, 2018 (2018-07-27)	Tom Wilson	6-year
September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24)	Alexander Alexeyev	3-year
February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22)	Nick Jensen	4-year
April 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)	Nic Dowd	3-year
May 20, 2019 (2019-05-20)	Shane Gersich	1-year
May 20, 2019 (2019-05-20)	Brian Pinho	1-year
June 10, 2019 (2019-06-10)	Liam O'Brien	1-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Washington Capitals draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	31	Alexander Alexeyev	D	Russia	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
2	461	Martin Fehervary	D	Slovakia	IK Oskarshamn (Allsvenskan)
2	472	Kody Clark	RW	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
3	93	Riley Sutter	C/RW	Canada	Everett Silvertips (WHL)
5	124	Mitchell Gibson	G	United States	Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL)
6	186	Alex Kannok-Leipert	D	Canada	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
7	217	Eric Florchuk	C	Canada	Victoria Royals (WHL)

Notes:

1. The Florida Panthers' second-round pick went the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on July 2, 2017, that sent Marcus Johansson to New Jersey in exchange for Toronto's third-round pick in 2018 and this pick.
2. The Colorado Avalanche's second-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2018, that sent Philipp Grubauer and Brooks Orpik to Colorado in exchange for this pick.