1997–98 Washington Capitals season

1997–98 Washington Capitals
Eastern Conference Champions
Division 3rd Atlantic
Conference 4th Eastern
1997–98 record 40–30–12
Home record 23–12–6
Road record 17–18–6
Goals for 219
Goals against 202
Team information
General Manager George McPhee
Coach Ron Wilson
Captain Dale Hunter
Team leaders
Goals Peter Bondra (52)
Assists Adam Oates (58)
Points Peter Bondra (78)
<1996–97 1998–99>

The 1997–98 Washington Capitals season saw the team reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in club history. Peter Bondra's 52 goals led the team; veterans Dale Hunter, Joe Juneau and Adam Oates returned to old form; and Olaf Kolzig had a solid .920 save percentage as the Caps got past the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres (the latter on a dramatic overtime win in Game 6 on a goal by Joe Juneau) en route to the team's first (and to date, only) Stanley Cup Finals appearance. The Capitals won six overtime games, three in each of their series against the Bruins and Sabres. However, they were no match for the defending cup champs, the Detroit Red Wings, who won in a four-game sweep.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team
1 9 Nick Boynton (D)  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHL)

Regular season

The Capitals had a very effective penalty kill during the regular season, allowing the fewest power-play goals (39) and finishing with the highest penalty-kill percentage (89.23%).[1]

Season standings

Atlantic Division
No. GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 New Jersey Devils 82 48 23 11 225 166 107
2 Philadelphia Flyers 82 42 29 11 242 193 95
3 Washington Capitals 82 40 30 12 219 202 92
4 New York Islanders 82 30 41 11 212 225 71
5 New York Rangers 82 25 39 18 197 231 68
6 Florida Panthers 82 24 43 15 203 256 63
7 Tampa Bay Lightning 82 17 55 10 151 269 44
Eastern Conference[2]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 New Jersey Devils ATL 82 48 23 11 225 166 107
2 Pittsburgh Penguins NE 82 40 24 18 228 188 98
3 Philadelphia Flyers ATL 82 42 29 11 242 193 95
4 Washington Capitals ATL 82 40 30 12 219 202 92
5 Boston Bruins NE 82 39 30 13 221 194 91
6 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 36 29 17 211 187 89
7 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 37 32 13 235 208 87
8 Ottawa Senators NE 82 34 33 15 193 200 83
9 Carolina Hurricanes NE 82 33 41 8 200 219 74
10 New York Islanders ATL 82 30 41 11 212 225 71
11 New York Rangers ATL 82 25 39 18 197 231 68
12 Florida Panthers ATL 82 24 43 15 203 256 63
13 Tampa Bay Lightning ATL 82 17 55 10 151 269 44

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 1, 19974–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 1–0–0
2WOctober 3, 19976–2 Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 2–0–0
3WOctober 4, 19974–1 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 3–0–0
4WOctober 8, 19976–3 @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 4–0–0
5LOctober 9, 19972–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 4–1–0
6WOctober 11, 19973–1 New York Islanders (1997–98) 5–1–0
7WOctober 15, 19972–0 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 6–1–0
8WOctober 24, 19973–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 7–1–0
9LOctober 22, 19973–4 @ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 7–2–0
10TOctober 23, 19973–3 OT @ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 7–2–1
11LOctober 25, 19972–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 7–3–1
12LOctober 29, 19973–4 Dallas Stars (1997–98) 7–4–1
13TOctober 31, 19972–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 7–4–2
14LNovember 1, 19971–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 7–5–2
15WNovember 4, 19972–1 Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 8–5–2
16LNovember 6, 19970–2 @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 8–6–2
17WNovember 8, 19972–1 Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 9–6–2
18LNovember 9, 19972–3 @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 9–7–2
19WNovember 12, 19974–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 10–7–2
20WNovember 13, 19973–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 11–7–2
21WNovember 15, 19973–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 12–7–2
22TNovember 18, 19976–6 OT Colorado Avalanche (1997–98) 12–7–3
23LNovember 22, 19972–5 San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 12–8–3
24WNovember 23, 19975–2 @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 13–8–3
25LNovember 26, 19975–6 Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 13–9–3
26LNovember 27, 19971–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 13–10–3
27TNovember 29, 19971–1 OT @ Boston Bruins (1997–98) 13–10–4
28WDecember 2, 19973–2 OT @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 14–10–4
29WDecember 5, 19973–2 OT Florida Panthers (1997–98) 15–10–4
30LDecember 7, 19974–5 @ Florida Panthers (1997–98) 15–11–4
31TDecember 10, 19973–3 OT @ San Jose Sharks (1997–98) 15–11–5
32LDecember 12, 19974–6 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 15–12–5
33TDecember 13, 19972–2 OT @ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 15–12–6
34TDecember 16, 19972–2 OT New York Islanders (1997–98) 15–12–7
35LDecember 18, 19970–4 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 15–13–7
36WDecember 20, 19972–1 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 16–13–7
37TDecember 23, 19971–1 OT New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 16–13–8
38LDecember 26, 19971–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 16–14–8
39LDecember 27, 19970–3 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 16–15–8
40WDecember 29, 19974–2 St. Louis Blues (1997–98) 17–15–8
41WJanuary 1, 19983–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98) 18–15–8
42LJanuary 3, 19982–3 New York Rangers (1997–98) 18–16–8
43WJanuary 6, 19985–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98) 19–16–8
44WJanuary 8, 19985–3 @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 20–16–8
45WJanuary 9, 19984–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 21–16–8
46LJanuary 11, 19980–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 21–17–8
47WJanuary 13, 19984–0 Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 22–17–8
48WJanuary 15, 19983–2 Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98) 23–17–8
49WJanuary 21, 19983–2 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 24–17–8
50WJanuary 25, 19984–1 Boston Bruins (1997–98) 25–17–8
51TJanuary 26, 19982–2 OT @ New York Rangers (1997–98) 25–17–9
52TJanuary 28, 19982–2 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 25–17–10
53WJanuary 31, 19983–2 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 26–17–10
54LFebruary 1, 19982–4 Detroit Red Wings (1997–98) 26–18–10
55TFebruary 4, 19982–2 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98) 26–18–11
56LFebruary 7, 19983–4 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 26–19–11
57LFebruary 25, 19983–4 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 26–20–11
58LFebruary 28, 19982–5 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 26–21–11
59LMarch 1, 19980–3 Buffalo Sabres (1997–98) 26–22–11
60LMarch 3, 19980–3 Boston Bruins (1997–98) 26–23–11
61LMarch 5, 19982–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 26–24–11
62WMarch 7, 19986–3 Florida Panthers (1997–98) 27–24–11
63WMarch 9, 19985–2 Calgary Flames (1997–98) 28–24–11
64WMarch 12, 19982–1 @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 29–24–11
65LMarch 14, 19980–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1997–98) 29–25–11
66WMarch 16, 19982–1 Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98) 30–25–11
67WMarch 18, 19981–0 Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 31–25–11
68WMarch 20, 19982–0 New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 32–25–11
69LMarch 21, 19982–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1997–98) 32–26–11
70LMarch 25, 19982–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98) 32–27–11
71LMarch 26, 19982–3 @ Calgary Flames (1997–98) 32–28–11
72WMarch 28, 19983–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98) 33–28–11
73WMarch 31, 19985–2 New York Islanders (1997–98) 34–28–11
74WApril 2, 19984–1 Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98) 35–28–11
75WApril 4, 19983–2 Los Angeles Kings (1997–98) 36–28–11
76TApril 6, 19982–2 OT Montreal Canadiens (1997–98) 36–28–12
77LApril 8, 19981–2 OT @ Dallas Stars (1997–98) 36–29–12
78LApril 11, 19983–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98) 36–30–12
79WApril 13, 19982–0 @ New York Islanders (1997–98) 37–30–12
80WApril 14, 19983–1 New York Rangers (1997–98) 38–30–12
81WApril 18, 19984–3 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 39–30–12
82WApril 19, 19982–1 Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98) 40–30–12

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals

Boston vs. Washington
Date Away Home
April 22 Boston 1 3 Washington
April 24 Boston 4 3 Washington 2OT
April 26 Washington 3 2 Boston 2OT
April 28 Washington 3 0 Boston
May 1 Boston 4 0 Washington
May 3 Washington 3 2 Boston OT
Washington wins series 4–2

Eastern Conference Semi-finals

Ottawa vs. Washington
Date Away Home
May 7 Ottawa 2 4 Washington
May 9 Ottawa 1 6 Washington
May 11 Washington 3 4 Ottawa
May 13 Washington 2 0 Ottawa
May 15 Ottawa 0 3 Washington
Washington win series 4–1

Eastern Conference Finals

Buffalo vs. Washington
Date Away Home
May 23 Buffalo 2 0 Washington
May 25 Buffalo 2 3 Washington OT
May 28 Washington 4 3 Buffalo OT
May 30 Washington 2 0 Buffalo
June 2 Buffalo 2 1 Washington
June 4 Washington 3 2 Buffalo OT
Washington wins series 4–2
and Prince of Wales Trophy

Stanley Cup Finals

Washington vs. Detroit
Date Away Home
June 9 Washington 1 2 Detroit
June 11 Washington 4 5 Detroit OT
June 13 Detroit 2 1 Washington
June 16 Detroit 4 1 Washington
Detroit wins series 4–0
and Stanley Cup
Steve Yzerman (Detroit)
wins Conn Smythe Trophy

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Bondra, PeterPeter Bondra RW 76 52 26 78 441411513
Oates, AdamAdam Oates C 82 18 58 76 366323
Johansson, CalleCalle Johansson D 73 15 20 35 30-111011
Konowalchuk, SteveSteve Konowalchuk LW 80 10 24 34 809202
Juneau, JoeJoe Juneau C 56 9 22 31 26-8411
Housley, PhilPhil Housley D 64 6 25 31 24-10410
Zednik, RichardRichard Zednik RW 65 17 9 26 28-2202
Hunter, DaleDale Hunter C 82 8 18 26 1031001
Brunette, AndrewAndrew Brunette LW 28 11 12 23 122402
Gonchar, SergeiSergei Gonchar D 72 5 16 21 662200
Tinordi, MarkMark Tinordi D 47 8 9 17 399010
Simon, ChrisChris Simon LW 28 7 10 17 38-1401
Nikolishin, AndreiAndrei Nikolishin C 38 6 10 16 141101
Bulis, JanJan Bulis C 48 5 11 16 18-5000
Cote, SylvainSylvain Cote D 59 1 15 16 36-5000
Berube, CraigCraig Berube LW 74 6 9 15 189-3000
Miller, KellyKelly Miller LW 76 7 7 14 41-2033
Krygier, ToddTodd Krygier LW 45 2 12 14 30-3001
Tikkanen, EsaEsa Tikkanen LW 20 2 10 12 2-4102
Reekie, JoeJoe Reekie D 68 2 8 10 7015001
Bellows, BrianBrian Bellows LW 11 6 3 9 6-3502
Pivonka, MichalMichal Pivonka C 33 3 6 9 205001
Witt, BrendanBrendan Witt D 64 1 7 8 112-11000
Toms, JeffJeff Toms C 33 3 4 7 8-11001
Klee, KenKen Klee D 51 4 2 6 46-3001
Brown, JeffJeff Brown D 9 0 6 6 64000
Svejkovsky, JaroslavJaroslav Svejkovsky RW 17 4 1 5 10-5201
Eagles, MikeMike Eagles C/LW 36 1 3 4 16-2000
Benda, JanJan Benda C 9 0 3 3 61000
Baumgartner, NolanNolan Baumgartner D 4 0 1 1 00000
Gratton, BenoitBenoit Gratton C 6 0 1 1 61000
Kolzig, OlafOlaf Kolzig G 64 0 1 1 120000
Ranford, BillBill Ranford G 22 0 1 1 00000
Church, BradBrad Church LW 2 0 0 0 00000
Harlock, DavidDavid Harlock D 6 0 0 0 42000
Hay, DwayneDwayne Hay LW 2 0 0 0 20000
Malgunas, StewartStewart Malgunas D 8 0 0 0 121000
Mulhern, RyanRyan Mulhern C 3 0 0 0 00000
Peake, PatPat Peake C 1 0 0 0 40000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Kolzig, OlafOlaf Kolzig 3788 64 33 18 10 139 2.20 517291590.920
Ranford, BillBill Ranford 1183 22 7 12 2 55 2.79 0555500.901
Team: 4971 82 40 30 12 194 2.34 522842090.915

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Juneau, JoeJoe Juneau C 21 7 10 17 8114
Oates, AdamAdam Oates C 21 6 11 17 8111
Nikolishin, AndreiAndrei Nikolishin C 21 1 13 14 12100
Bellows, BrianBrian Bellows LW 21 6 7 13 6201
Bondra, PeterPeter Bondra RW 17 7 5 12 12302
Gonchar, SergeiSergei Gonchar D 21 7 4 11 30312
Zednik, RichardRichard Zednik RW 17 7 3 10 16200
Johansson, CalleCalle Johansson D 21 2 8 10 16000
Tikkanen, EsaEsa Tikkanen LW 21 3 3 6 20100
Housley, PhilPhil Housley D 18 0 4 4 4000
Hunter, DaleDale Hunter C 21 0 4 4 30000
Krygier, ToddTodd Krygier LW 13 1 2 3 6001
Reekie, JoeJoe Reekie D 21 1 2 3 20000
Tinordi, MarkMark Tinordi D 21 1 2 3 42000
Pivonka, MichalMichal Pivonka C 13 0 3 3 0000
Brown, JeffJeff Brown D 2 0 2 2 0000
Eagles, MikeMike Eagles C/LW 12 0 2 2 2000
Berube, CraigCraig Berube LW 21 1 0 1 21001
Klee, KenKen Klee D 9 1 0 1 10000
Simon, ChrisChris Simon LW 18 1 0 1 26000
Witt, BrendanBrendan Witt D 16 1 0 1 14000
Miller, KellyKelly Miller LW 10 0 1 1 4000
Kolzig, OlafOlaf Kolzig G 21 0 0 0 4000
Svejkovsky, JaroslavJaroslav Svejkovsky RW 1 0 0 0 2000
Toms, JeffJeff Toms C 1 0 0 0 0000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Kolzig, OlafOlaf Kolzig 1351 21 12 9 44 1.95 4740696.941
Team: 1351 21 12 9 44 1.95 4740696.941

[3]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

See also

References

  1. http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1998.html
  2. "1997–1998 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  3. "1997-98 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
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