# 2019–20 Washington Capitals season

The 2019–20 Washington Capitals season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. The Capitals entered the season as the 4-time defending Metropolitan Division champions. They would go on to win the division for the fifth year in a row.
The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Capitals advanced to the playoffs, but were eliminated by the New York Islanders in the first round in five games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Washington Capitals | 69 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 31 | 240 | 215 | +25 | 90 |
| 2 | Philadelphia Flyers | 69 | 41 | 21 | 7 | 31 | 232 | 196 | +36 | 89 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 69 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 224 | 196 | +28 | 86 |
| 4 | Carolina Hurricanes | 68 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 27 | 222 | 193 | +29 | 81 |
| 5 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 70 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 180 | 187 | −7 | 81 |
| 6 | New York Islanders | 68 | 35 | 23 | 10 | 24 | 192 | 193 | −1 | 80 |
| 7 | New York Rangers | 70 | 37 | 28 | 5 | 31 | 234 | 222 | +12 | 79 |
| 8 | New Jersey Devils | 69 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 22 | 189 | 230 | −41 | 68 |

### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 227 | 174 | +53 | .714 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 70 | 43 | 21 | 6 | 35 | 245 | 195 | +50 | .657 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 3 | Washington Capitals | 69 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 31 | 240 | 215 | +25 | .652 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 69 | 41 | 21 | 7 | 31 | 232 | 196 | +36 | .645 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 69 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 224 | 196 | +28 | .623 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 6 | Carolina Hurricanes | 68 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 27 | 222 | 193 | +29 | .596 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 7 | New York Islanders | 68 | 35 | 23 | 10 | 24 | 192 | 193 | −1 | .588 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 36 | 25 | 9 | 28 | 238 | 227 | +11 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 9 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 70 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 180 | 187 | −7 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 10 | Florida Panthers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 30 | 231 | 228 | +3 | .565 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 11 | New York Rangers | 70 | 37 | 28 | 5 | 31 | 234 | 222 | +12 | .564 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 12 | Montreal Canadiens | 71 | 31 | 31 | 9 | 19 | 212 | 221 | −9 | .500 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 13 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 195 | 217 | −22 | .493 | |
| 14 | New Jersey Devils | 69 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 22 | 189 | 230 | −41 | .493 | |
| 15 | Ottawa Senators | 71 | 25 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 191 | 243 | −52 | .437 | |
| 16 | Detroit Red Wings | 71 | 17 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 145 | 267 | −122 | .275 | |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 17, 2019.
2019 preseason game log: 5–1–0 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 2–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecord
1September 16Chicago4–3 OT1–0–0
2September 18St. Louis3–22–0–0
3September 21Carolina3–23–0–0
4September 25@ Chicago6–04–0–0
5September 27@ St. Louis3–44–1–0
6September 29@ Carolina4–35–1–0 :

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.
2019–20 game log :
October: 9–2–3, 21 points (Home: 2–1–2; Road: 7–1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1October 2@ St. Louis3–2OTHoltbyEnterprise Center18,0961–0–02
2October 4@ NY Islanders2–1SamsonovNassau Coliseum13,9172–0–04
3October 5Carolina2–3OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,5062–0–15
4October 8Dallas3–4OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,5732–0–26
5October 10@ Nashville5–6HoltbyBridgestone Arena17,3862–1–26
6October 12@ Dallas4–1SamsonovAmerican Airlines Center18,5323–1–28
7October 14Colorado3–6SamsonovCapital One Arena18,5733–2–28
8October 16Toronto4–3SamsonovCapital One Arena18,5734–2–210
9October 18NY Rangers5–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5735–2–212
10October 20@ Chicago5–3HoltbyUnited Center21,1876–2–214
11October 22@ Calgary5–3HoltbyScotiabank Saddledome18,0027–2–216
12October 24@ Edmonton3–4OTHoltbyRogers Place17,1447–2–317
13October 25@ Vancouver6–5SOSamsonovRogers Arena18,8718–2–319
14October 29@ Toronto4–3OTHoltbyScotiabank Arena19,2589–2–321 :
November: 10–2–2, 22 points (Home: 6–1–2; Road: 4–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
15November 1Buffalo6–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57310–2–323
16November 3Calgary4–2SamsonovCapital One Arena18,57311–2–325
17November 7@ Florida5–4OTHoltbyBB&T Center14,08512–2–327
18November 9Vegas5–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57313–2–329
19November 11Arizona3–4SOSamsonovCapital One Arena18,57313–2–430
20November 13@ Philadelphia2–1SOHoltbyWells Fargo Center18,15914–2–432
21November 15Montreal2–5SamsonovCapital One Arena18,57314–3–432
22November 16@ Boston3–2SOHoltbyTD Garden17,85015–3–434
23November 18Anaheim5–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57316–3–436
24November 20@ NY Rangers1–4HoltbyMadison Square Garden17,23916–4–436
25November 23Vancouver1–2SOHoltbyCapital One Arena18,57316–4–537
26November 27Florida4–3HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57317–4–539
27November 29Tampa Bay4–3OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,57318–4–541
28November 30@ Detroit5–2SamsonovLittle Caesars Arena19,19019–4–543 :
December: 8–5–0, 16 points (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 5–3–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
29December 3@ San Jose5–2HoltbySAP Center17,56220–4–545
30December 4@ Los Angeles3–1SamsonovStaples Center16,10221–4–547
31December 6@ Anaheim3–2HoltbyHonda Center15,94522–4–549
32December 9Columbus2–5HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57322–5–549
33December 11Boston3–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57323–5–551
34December 14@ Tampa Bay5–2SamsonovAmalie Arena19,09224–5–553
35December 16@ Columbus0–3HoltbyNationwide Arena16,60224–6–553
36December 20@ New Jersey6–3SamsonovPrudential Center15,02125–6–555
37December 21Tampa Bay3–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57326–6–557
38December 23@ Boston3–7HoltbyTD Garden17,85026–7–557
39December 27Columbus2–1OTSamsonovCapital One Arena18,57327–7–559
40December 28@ Carolina4–6HoltbyPNC Arena18,68027–8–559
41December 31NY Islanders3–4HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57327–9–559 :
January: 8–3–0, 16 points (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 4–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
42January 3@ Carolina4–3SamsonovPNC Arena18,68028–9–561
43January 5San Jose5–4OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,57329–9–563
44January 7Ottawa6–1SamsonovCapital One Arena18,57330–9–565
45January 8@ Philadelphia2–3HoltbyWells Fargo Center18,59530–10–565
46January 11New Jersey1–5HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57330–11–565
47January 13Carolina2–0SamsonovCapital One Arena18,57331–11–567
48January 16New Jersey5–2SamsonovCapital One Arena18,57332–11–569
49January 18@ NY Islanders6–4SamsonovNassau Coliseum13,91733–11–571
50January 27@ Montreal4–2HoltbyBell Centre21,30234–11–573
51January 29Nashville4–5HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57334–12–573
52January 31@ Ottawa5–3SamsonovCanadian Tire Centre14,27935–12–575 :
February: 4–7–1, 9 points (Home: 3–3–1; Road: 1–4–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
53February 2Pittsburgh3–4SamsonovCapital One Arena18,57335–13–575
54February 4Los Angeles4–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57336–13–577
55February 8Philadelphia2–7HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57336–14–577
56February 10NY Islanders3–5SamsonovCapital One Arena18,57336–15–577
57February 13@ Colorado3–2HoltbyPepsi Center18,14637–15–579
58February 15@ Arizona1–3HoltbyGila River Arena17,13937–16–579
59February 17@ Vegas2–3HoltbyT-Mobile Arena18,39937–17–579
60February 20Montreal3–4OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,57337–17–680
61February 22@ New Jersey2–3SamsonovPrudential Center16,51437–18–680
62February 23Pittsburgh5–3HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57338–18–682
63February 25Winnipeg4–3SOHoltbyCapital One Arena18,57339–18–684
64February 27@ Winnipeg0–3SamsonovBell MTS Place15,32539–19–684 :
March: 2–1–2, 6 points (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 2–0–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
65March 1@ Minnesota4–3HoltbyXcel Energy Center17,38840–19–686
66March 4Philadelphia2–5HoltbyCapital One Arena18,57340–20–686
67March 5@ NY Rangers5–6OTSamsonovMadison Square Garden17,27740–20–787
68March 7@ Pittsburgh5–2HoltbyPPG Paints Arena18,65641–20–789
69March 9@ Buffalo2–3SOHoltbyKeyBank Center16,53941–20–890 :
Cancelled games
GameDateOpponentLocation
70March 12DetroitCapital One Arena
71March 14ChicagoCapital One Arena
72March 16EdmontonCapital One Arena
73March 19@ ColumbusNationwide Arena
74March 20OttawaCapital One Arena
75March 22@ PittsburghPPG Paints Arena
76March 24St. LouisCapital One Arena
77March 26NY RangersCapital One Arena
78March 28@ DetroitLittle Caesars Arena
79March 30@ BuffaloKeyBank Center
80March 31TorontoCapital One Arena
81April 2MinnesotaCapital One Arena
82April 4@ FloridaBB&T Center :
Win (2 Points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

The Capitals played in a round-robin tournament to determine their seed for the playoffs. Washington finished with a 1–1–1 record to clinch the third seed for the playoffs.
The Capitals were defeated by the New York Islanders in the first round in five games.
2020 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Eastern Conference Seeding Round-robin
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationRecordPointsRecap
1August 3@ Tampa Bay2–3SOHoltbyScotiabank Arena0–0–11
2August 6@ Philadelphia1–3HoltbyScotiabank Arena0–1–11
3August 9Boston2–1HoltbyScotiabank Arena1–1–13 :
Eastern Conference First Round vs. (6) New York Islanders: New York won 4–1
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationSeriesRecap
1August 12NY Islanders2–4HoltbyScotiabank Arena0–1
2August 14NY Islanders2–5HoltbyScotiabank Arena0–2
3August 16@ NY Islanders1–2OTHoltbyScotiabank Arena0–3
4August 18@ NY Islanders3–2HoltbyScotiabank Arena1–3
5August 20NY Islanders0–4HoltbyScotiabank Arena1–4 :
Win (2 Points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| John Carlson | 69 | 15 | 60 | 75 | 12 | 26 |
| Alexander Ovechkin | 68 | 48 | 19 | 67 | −12 | 30 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 61 | 12 | 42 | 54 | −1 | 14 |
| Jakub Vrana | 69 | 25 | 27 | 52 | 3 | 18 |
| Evgeny Kuznetsov | 63 | 19 | 33 | 52 | −2 | 40 |
| T. J. Oshie | 69 | 26 | 23 | 49 | 4 | 26 |
| Tom Wilson | 68 | 21 | 23 | 44 | −3 | 93 |
| Lars Eller | 69 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 3 | 48 |
| Dmitry Orlov | 69 | 4 | 23 | 27 | 5 | 36 |
| Carl Hagelin | 58 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 12 | 16 |
| Richard Panik | 59 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 16 | 36 |
| Michal Kempny | 58 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 22 |
| Garnet Hathaway | 66 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 79 |
| Nic Dowd | 56 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 28 |
| Radko Gudas | 63 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 40 |
| Brendan Leipsic | 61 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 13 |
| Travis Boyd | 24 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 2 |
| Jonas Siegenthaler | 64 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 43 |
| Nick Jensen | 68 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 13 |
| Chandler Stephenson$^‡$ | 24 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk$^†$ | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Martin Fehervary | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 6 |
| Michael Sgarbossa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brenden Dillon$^†$ | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 21 |
| Beck Malenstyn | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Tyler Lewington | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 17 |
| Christian Djoos$^‡$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| John Carlson | 5 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −11 | 2 |
| Alexander Ovechkin | 8 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −1 | 2 |
| Evgeny Kuznetsov | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −4 | 4 |
| T. J. Oshie | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −7 | 13 |
| Tom Wilson | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 23 |
| Dmitry Orlov | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| Radko Gudas | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| Richard Panik | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 6 |
| Travis Boyd | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| Lars Eller | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −5 | 2 |
| Brenden Dillon | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Carl Hagelin | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 2 |
| Michal Kempny | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| Jakub Vrana | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −7 | 2 |
| Nick Jensen | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Nic Dowd | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 4 |
| Garnet Hathaway | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 12 |
| Jonas Siegenthaler | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −7 | 0 |
| Martin Fehervary | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Pinho | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Braden Holtby | 48 | 47 | 2,743:10 | 25 | 14 | 6 | 142 | 3.11 | 1,385 | .897 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Ilya Samsonov | 26 | 22 | 1,411:02 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 60 | 2.55 | 689 | .913 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Braden Holtby | 8 | 8 | 482:36 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 2.49 | 213 | .906 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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 2019–20 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22) | To New Jersey Devils4th-round pick in 2019 BUF's 5th-round pick in 2019 | To Washington CapitalsSJS's 3rd-round pick in 2019 |
| June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22) | To San Jose Sharks7th-round pick in 2019 7th-round pick in 2020 | To Washington Capitals5th-round pick in 2019 |
| June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28) | To Colorado AvalancheAndre Burakovsky | To Washington CapitalsScott Kosmachuk 2nd-round pick in 2020 ARI's 3rd-round pick in 2020 |
| December 2, 2019 (2019-12-02) | To Vegas Golden KnightsChandler Stephenson | To Washington Capitals5th-round pick in 2021 |
| February 18, 2020 (2020-02-18) | To San Jose Sharks2nd-round pick in 2020 Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2021 | To Washington CapitalsBrenden Dillon |
| February 23, 2020 (2020-02-23) | To Montreal Canadiens3rd-round pick in 2020 | To Washington CapitalsIlya Kovalchuk |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Riley Barber | to Montreal Canadiens | 1-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Brett Connolly | to Florida Panthers | 4-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Garnet Hathaway | from Calgary Flames | 4-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Brendan Leipsic | from Los Angeles Kings | 1-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Philippe Maillet | from Ontario Reign (AHL) | 2-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Aaron Ness | to Arizona Coyotes | 2-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Richard Panik | from Arizona Coyotes | 4-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Nathan Walker | to St. Louis Blues | 1-year |
| July 2, 2019 (2019-07-02) | Jayson Megna | to Colorado Avalanche | 1-year |
| July 16, 2019 (2019-07-16) | Mathias Bau Hansen | to Dornbirn Bulldogs (EBEL) | 1-year |
| August 17, 2019 (2019-08-17) | Chase Priskie | to Carolina Hurricanes | 2-year |
| August 22, 2019 (2019-08-22) | Dmitrij Jaskin | from/to Dynamo Moscow (KHL) | 1-year |
| August 29, 2019 (2019-08-29) | Mason Mitchell | to Rochester Americans (AHL) | -year |
| September 4, 2019 (2019-09-04) | Hampus Gustafsson | to Rögle BK (SHL) | 1-year |
| October 28, 2019 (2019-10-28) | Devante Smith-Pelly | to Kunlun Red Star (KHL) | 1-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | | from/to | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| June 29, 2019 (2019-06-29) | Michael Sgarbossa | 2-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Vitek Vanecek | 3-year |
| July 10, 2019 (2019-07-10) | Aliaksei Protas | 3-year |
| July 11, 2019 (2019-07-11) | Brett Leason | 3-year |
| July 12, 2019 (2019-07-12) | Connor McMichael | 3-year |
| July 13, 2019 (2019-07-13) | Colby Williams | 1-year |
| July 16, 2019 (2019-07-16) | Jakub Vrana | 2-year |
| July 24, 2019 (2019-07-24) | Christian Djoos | 1-year |
| July 27, 2019 (2019-07-27) | Chandler Stephenson | 1-year |
| January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14) | Nicklas Backstrom | 5-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 25 | Connor McMichael | C | Canada | London Knights (OHL) |
| 2 | 56 | Brett Leason | RW | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 3 | 91$^1$ | Aliaksei Protas | C | Belarus | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 5 | 153$^2$ | Martin Has | D | Czech Republic | Tappara U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) |
Notes:
* The San Jose Sharks' third-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a fourth-round pick and Buffalo's fifth-round pick both in 2019 (118th and 129th overall) to New Jersey in exchange for this pick.
* The San Jose Sharks' fifth-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2019 (211th overall) and 2020 to San Jose in exchange for this pick.