The History of the Washington Capitals(Est. 1973)
1983-1996 PERENNIAL PLAYOFF APPEARANCES
by Rick Benson
After three straight 100-plus point seasons, the Capitals continued to be yearly participants in the playoffs for the next eleven years as well. While Washington is often maligned for failing to go deep in the playoffs; save their 1998-99 Stanley Cup appearance, a 14-year run of playoff appearances speaks to continued consistency and a litany of excellence hockey in the nation’s capital.
In 1986-87, the Caps defense—already led by their captain and Norris Trophy winner Rod Langway—had some more firepower come through on the blue line. Larry Murphy and Scott Stevens both cracked the 50 assists mark with 58 and 51 respectively. Murphy, who wore number 8 before Alexander the Great, led the Capitals in scoring with 81 points. Right winger Mike Gartner lit the lamp 41 times as Washington finished the season with 86 point and finished second to Patrick Division champion Philadelphia. The Capitals failed to really challenge for the division title as they were undermined yet again by a woefully slow start. The Capitals rang in the New Year with a 12-19-6 record. A 9-2-1 finish was not enough to close the gap and then the season came to a crushing end in game 7 of the opening round of the playoffs. The Caps battled the New York Islanders in what would be dubbed “The Easter Epic.” Technically, Game 7 of the 1987 Patrick Division semifinals began on April 18. It didn’t end until around 2 a.m. on April 19, when Pat LaFontaine’s turnaround snapshot from the point threaded through a sea of bodies and beat Bob Mason 8:47 into the fourth overtime.
While the Easter Epic might have been the most agonizing Capitals loss ever (I know there are plenty to choose from), the following season may have provided their most memorable. As if a seven game series against the arch-rival Flyers wasn’t riveting enough; game seven was an all-time classic.
Defenseman Garry Galley's two goal performance tied the regular season finale with Philadelphia, which meant that Washington won the standings tiebreaker and finished second in the Patrick Division. This would be crucial as it gave the Caps home ice advantage in their first-
round matchup with the defending division and conference champion Flyers.
Philly showed a champion's mettle right away, though, stealing home ice away with a 4-2 victory in Game 1. Ron Hextall made 35 saves and Dave Poulin's 3rd period power play tally broke a 2-2 tie. Washington salvaged a split at home with a 5-4 triumph in Game 2. Despite letting in a quartet of Philly goals, Pete Peeters proved to be the final period hero, stopping 14 of 15 shots from a pressing Flyers attack.
Philadelphia then turned the tables back at their place, taking a pair of one-goal games, both of them high in drama for entirely different reasons. In Game 3, a 4-3 Flyers win, officials handed out 40 penalties, including 10 major/misconduct penalties. After the game Philly forward Rick Tocchet, who spent roughly half the contest in the penalty box, was quoted as saying, "There are 10 guys on that team that I'd like to kill."
Game 4 saw both teams tried to change momentum with goalie switches. The Capitals yanked Peeters in favor of starting Clint Malarchuk, who had played more during the regular season. Despite missing their two best defensemen--Stevens and Langway--who were both injured in Game 3, the move seemed to be paying dividends as Washington took a 4-1 lead with 17:00 to go, resulting in Hextall's removal for backup Mark Laforest. The Caps maintained their 3-goal advantage into the final 9:00 of the game, when the Flyers began one of their most riveting comebacks in franchise history. Mark Howe and Brian Propp scored to cut the deficit to one and then, after pulling their new net minder, the tying tally came from defenseman Kjell Samuelsson with :53 remaining. When Murray Craven lit the lamp just 1:18 into overtime, the rally was complete and Philadelphia had a 5-4 win. Howe said after, "If we play that game 250 times, we win it once."
Now facing elimination, the Capitals returned home and showed no fear as they again knocked Hextall out of the game after posting a 4-1 lead, but this time it only took 29 minutes. Washington would go on to win easily this time, 5-2. The final Philadelphia goal came on a power play in the second period after the team asked to check goalie Pete Peeters' stick, which was ruled to be wider than permitted by the rules. Peeters admitted all his sticks were the same and so he had to use one of backup Clint Malarchuk's sticks for the rest of the game.
The Flyers now had a chance to clinch the series at home in Game 6, which would be another penalty-filled contest. It was highlighted (or lowlighted, depending on your point of view) by Philadelphia defenseman Greg Smyth spending 27 minutes in the sin bin. Given all the infractions, it was no surprise that the difference in the game was special teams. But while Philadelphia went a pedestrian 1-for-8 on the power play, Washington was a scorching 4-of-9. The key play in the game was Flyers forward Dave Brown trying to fight Caps counterpart Bobby Gould. However, assistant captain Gould shrewdly went turtle, covering up, and letting Brown whale on him a couple times before officials stepped in. Gould went back to the bench as Brown's fighting major gave the Capitals, who were already ahead 2-0, a 5:00 power play, during which they scored twice to blow the game open. Washington romped to a 7-2 triumph with 7 different goal scorers to set up the 7th and deciding game back in D.C.
In a series full of twists and turns (some of them being highly illegal and downright nasty), the final turn of them all came in one of the more exciting Game 7's in Stanley Cup playoff history. But first, one last bit of nasty had to be doled out. During a Flyer power play late in a scoreless first period, Capitals defenseman Grant Ledyard didn't like the way Flyers forward Rick Tocchet checked him to the ice in front of the Washington goal. Ledyard promptly speared Tocchet in the groin with the blade of his stick and received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct. Tim Kerr would score during the Ledyard penalty, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead after the 1st period.
Things went from bad to worse for the Caps as the 1-goal deficit was tripled less than 3:00 into the 2nd period on markers by Brian Propp and Mark Howe. Just like Game 4, one team had a 3-goal lead and all the momentum. But momentum's a funny thing. It changed four minutes later when Dale Hunter, who was picked up in the offseason from the Quebec Nordiques, fired a backwards cross-ice pass to a wide open Galley who beat Hextall with a slapshot. With the Capital Centre crowd now in full throat, Washington kept up the pressure and forced an icing and an offensive zone faceoff. Mike Ridley dueled with Peter Zezel and the puck was kicked and dribbled right in front of the crease where Kelly Miller stuffed it under Hextall's pads. Two goals in about 90 seconds and it was a brand new hockey game.
But just when the actual play on the ice looked to be returning to center stage, tempers flared again. As the Caps rushed up ice for the tying goal, forward Dave Christian fired a high shot that Hextall jumped to try to corral on his chest, Washington defenseman Kevin Hatcher, charging the net for a rebound, lowered the boom and ran right over the Flyer netminder, earning him a minor penalty and putting the three officials quickly to work to break up the players before any punches could be thrown. Hatcher would atone for his mistake before the period was out.
Philadelphia tried to clear from their defensive half-wall, but failed to flip the puck over the 6'3" defenseman. Hatcher gloved it down at the blue line and walked in to fire a wicked slapshot that beat Hextall shortside to tie the game. Just as Philadelphia needed less than twenty minutes to erase a 3-goal deficit in Game 4, Washington had done the same in Game 7. However, there was still a whole 3rd period to go.
Just over 5:00 into the 3rd, Kjell Samuelsson was sent off the ice for tripping Peter Sundstrom. Washington was so potent in the previous game with the man advantage, but had failed to score in this contest despite over 9 1/2 minutes of power play time. They apparently didn't want to waste any more. The Caps won the offensive zone faceoff and Hatcher took the puck and passed across the blue line to Galley. Galley fired low at the target, but Dale Hunter stopped the attempt about halfway to the net and re-shot the puck. Hextall, already down trying to catch the Galley shot, didn't have a chance to readjust. The light went on and the Capitals had taken a 4-3 lead with just under 15:00 to go, needing only 6 seconds of their power play to score.
But Philadelphia was not about to go quietly. Just over a minute later, the Flyers won a faceoff in their offensive zone and the puck came back to defenseman Brian Marsh who fired a low shot that somehow found its way through the legs and sticks of a half-dozen players before zooming past Peeters and into the net for the tying goal. Again, imitiation was the sincerest form of flattery in this series, although it had been defined by flattening throughout. Both defenses tightened up and very few scoring chances came for the rest of regulation and the game would go to overtime tied 4-4.
Having already lost one dramatic overtime game in the series and still stinging from the heartbreak of the previous season's quadruple-overtime playoff loss at home in Game 7 in the famed Easter Epic (rated the #7 game in New York Islanders history), Capitals fans were not relishing bonus hockey. Adding to the uncertainty was whether all the bad blood that had been spilled in this series might dramatically affect the outcome. No one knew how this one was going to end.
It almost ended in less than 5 seconds. Philadelphia won the opening faceoff and Mark Howe skated across the red line and fired a long, high slapshot. Pete Peeters reached up to catch it, but the puck deflected off his glove and came down just high and wide of the goal. Neither team had a real decent scoring opportunity, though, until a Washington defensive clear wound up springing Mike Gartner on a breakaway. As the Caps leading goal scorer tried to catch up to the pass, he was hooked down from behind by Howe, giving the Capitals a rare overtime power play.
Washington had Hextall out of position three times early in the man advantage, but couldn't get a clean shot away. Then, as things looked to be cooling off, Scott Stevens was taken down, but still managed to get the puck over to Mike Ridley on the left side. He slid it back to Gartner who was all alone 10 feet in front of the net. Gartner's shot beat Hextall clean glove-side-high, but didn't beat the crossbar, marking the third time in the game the iron had repelled a Washington scoring chance. Adding insult to, well, insult, the rebound then dropped almost straight down into the crease where it bounced over Dale Hunter's sweeping stick, which had nothing between it and the open net. The ensuing chaotic scramble
would send Philly's Brian Propp on a shorthanded breakaway down the right wing. His first shot found the right pad of Peeters, and his rebound attempt was scooped by Peeters' glove.
Less than a minute later, Gartner was sprung again by Ridley down his favored right wing. Gartner beat one defenseman, drew the second one to him, and then sent a perfect pass across to Peter Sundstrom. The redirect was on target, but Hextall somehow got back to make arguably his best save of the series, robbing Sundstrom from point-blank range. Washington kept the pressure on and about a minute later almost won it again, this time it was Hunter from behind the net setting up Bobby Gould, whose backhand one-timer from just above the crease was kicked out by Hextall's stick.
Gould would get another shot after Washington retrieved Philadelphia's clear and Murray Craven skated the loose puck out of the Flyer zone. He got as far as the Caps blue line where he was poke-checked by Larry Murphy. Craven tried to return the favor as he went off the ice for a line change, but the puck bounced off Stevens' skate and came right back to Murphy. That's when Murphy looked up and saw Hunter making a hard u-turn just past the red line with his stick raised. Hunter perfectly split three Flyers and Murphy hit him in stride right at the blue line. Hunter cruised in and later said he didn't know what he was going to do until the last moment when he saw an opening between Hextall's pads. The man who six years earlier won a deciding Game 5 (best-of-5 series) for Quebec with an overtime goal against Montreal, feathered a slithering shot that hit the back of the net 5:57 into overtime, giving the Capitals a thrilling 5-4 victory and a 4-games-to-3 series triumph.
The game would not only be one of the most disheartening and gut-wrenching for Flyer fans, it would also be the last for Philadelphia's young crackerjack head coach Mike Keenan, who left in the offseason to take the head job with the Chicago Blackhawks.
As for Washington, the victory was recently voted the #1 game in the history of the franchise. The Caps would have to savor that game 7 clincher over the summer as they got bounced in seven games by the New Jersey Devils; making their first trip to the division finals.
The Capitals finally got to raise their first championship banner as they finished first in the Patrick Division for the 1988-89 season. Despite yet another trademark slow start (5-9-2), Washington gained points in their first seven contests in 1989. Center Mike Ridley (41 goals, 89 points) and newly acquired left winger Geoff Courtnall (42 goals, 80 points) led the scoring while Stevens (61) and Gustafsson (51) both topped the 50 assist mark. Peeters settles in as the top net minder with a 2.85 GAA and four shutouts. Then the Flyers, who finished fourth with an unimpressive 36-36-8 mark, exacted their revenge from the previous season and knocked the Caps out in the first round of the playoffs four games to two.
The 1989-1990 season was one of the most unusual yet; a Good, Bad and Ugly if you will. The good is the Caps advanced to the Wales conference finals for the first time ever; knocking of New Jersey and the New York Rangers before getting swept by Boston in the conference finals. The bad was the disappointing finals against the Bruins along with their first sub-.500 mark (36-38-6) in seven seasons. The ugly was a rash of injuries and down years for many Capitals as a total of 47 players suited up in the red, white and blue; including five goaltenders. The Caps got back over the ,500 mark in 1990-91 with a more evenly spread scoring effort as Hatcher, Ridley, Pivonka, Miller, Ciccirelli and John Druce each topped the 20-goal mark while Hatcher and Pivonka had 50 assists each. The season ended with their first distaste of Pittsburgh in the playoffs as the Penguins took the second round over Washington four game to one after the Caps took home ice away with a 4-2 win in game one at the Civic Arena.
The 1991-92 season saw the emergence of two Russian stars—center Peter Bondra and right winger/center Dmitri Kristich. Their ability to converse in both Russian and Ukranian helped them become close friends as they added some needed offensive power to the Capitals line-up. Kristich was second to Ciccarelli in goals scored with 36 while Pivonka led the team with 57 assists and 80 points. Unfortunately, the added firepower couldn’t prevent another playoff ouster by the Mario Lemieux-led Penguins in seven. The following season saw one of the biggest changes in team history as Langway gave up the captain’s role in favor of Hatcher after yet another October/November swoon. The Caps finished second in the division but miles behind the Penguins who ended with 119 points. A record nine Capitals had 20 or more goals; including three defensemen—Hatcher, Al Iafrate and Sylvain Cote. Washington never got the chance to avenge the previous year’s loss to Pittsburgh as they were ousted in the first round by the Islanders.
The Capitals celebrated their 20th anniversary in the 1993-94 season by knocking off the Penguins in six games; including three at the Civic Center before falling to the Rangers in five. Don Beaupre was firmly established in goal with a 2.85 GAA but the following season, after a dreadful 3-10-5 start, the Caps brought up 20-year old goalie Jim Carey from the Portland Pirates for their March 2 game against the New York Islanders. The Capitals edged the Islanders 4–3 and Carey made 21 saves. Carey would finish his rookie season with an impressive 18–6–3 record, a 2.13 GAA and four shutouts. With the help of Carey's superb goaltending, Washington would go on to win 19 of their final 30 games and finish in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with a 22–18–8 record for 52 points in a season that was delayed in starting due to a work stoppage.
The 1995-96 season was the last of the Capitals 14-year playoff run. The season was marked with a major uniform design change as the Caps ditched their traditional red, white and blue for a blue and black main jersey with a swooping eagle logo and a black and gold alternate with a logo featuring the U.S. Capitol building. Carey showed no signs of a sophomore slump as he was once again spectacular in goal with a 2.26 GAA and nine shutouts. Pivonka (65 assists, 81 points) and Bondra (52 goals, 80 points) led the scoring effort along with newcomer Joe Juneau (50 assists, 64 points).
Alas, all good things must end as not even a 46-goal effort by Bondra could get the Caps in the playoffs after the 1996-97 season. But the playoff run changed the image of Washinton’s hockey team and the dismal expansion years were now far away in the rear view mirror. Hockey was now well established in the nation’s capital and the best was yet to come.
