# 1982–83 Washington Capitals season

The 1982–83 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals ninth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). They qualified for the playoffs for the very first time in franchise history after eight frustrating seasons.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 49 | 23 | 8 | 326 | 240 | 106 |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 42 | 26 | 12 | 302 | 226 | 96 |
| Washington Capitals | 80 | 39 | 25 | 16 | 306 | 283 | 94 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 35 | 35 | 10 | 306 | 287 | 80 |
| New Jersey Devils | 80 | 17 | 49 | 14 | 230 | 338 | 48 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 18 | 53 | 9 | 250 | 394 | 45 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Patrick Division
1982–83 NHL records
Team
NJD
NYI
NYR
PHI
PIT
WSH
Total
New Jersey
—0−73−3−12−53−1−30−6−18−22−5
N.Y. Islanders
7−0—4−31−4−25−24−2−121−11−3
N.Y. Rangers
3−3−13−4—3−45−1−13−3−117−15−3
Philadelphia
5−24−1−24−3—5−1−13−421−11−3
Pittsburgh
1−3−32−51−5−11–5–1—1−5−16−23−6
Washington
6−0−12−4−13−3−14–35–1–1—20−11−4
Vs. Adams Division
1982–83 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
HFD
MTL
QUE
Total
New Jersey
0−1−20−2−11−21−21−23−9−3
N.Y. Islanders
0−2−11−22−11−0−21−1−15−6−4
N.Y. Rangers
0−30−2−12−11−21−24−10−1
Philadelphia
0−2−11−22−11−23−07−7−1
Pittsburgh
1−21−1−13−01−20−36−8−1
Washington
3−00−32−0−10−1−21−1−16−5−4
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Norris Division
1982–83 NHL records
Team
CHI
DET
MIN
STL
TOR
Total
New Jersey
0−31−1−10−30−2−11−0−22−9−4
N.Y. Islanders
1−1−10−2−10−2−12−12−15−7−3
N.Y. Rangers
0−32−0−12−12−0−13−09−4−2
Philadelphia
1−1−13−01−1−13−02−0−110−2−3
Pittsburgh
0−30−2−10−2−10−31−21−12−2
Washington
2−0−12−11−1−11−1−12−18−4−3
Vs. Smythe Division
1982–83 NHL records
Team
CGY
EDM
LAK
VAN
WIN
Total
New Jersey
1−20−31−21−0−21−24−9−2
N.Y. Islanders
2−0−13−03−02−11−1−111−2−2
N.Y. Rangers
2−0−10−31−1−11−1−11−1−15−6−4
Philadelphia
3−02−12−11−1−13−011−3−1
Pittsburgh
0−31−22−11−21−25−10−0
Washington
2−10−2−11−1−11−1−11−0−25−5−5 :

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

1982–83 game log :
October: 3–6–1 (home: 0–3–1; road: 3–3–0)
GameDate Time (ET)OpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1October 6, 1982@ N.Y. Rangers5–4RigginMadison Square Garden1–0–02
2October 9, 1982Philadelphia2–3RigginCapital Centre1–1–02
3October 10, 1982@ Philadelphia4–6MooreThe Spectrum1–2–02
4October 13, 1982@ Toronto5–3ParroMaple Leaf Gardens2–2–04
5October 16, 1982 8:05 p.m. EDTBuffalo2–9ParroCapital Centre 13,7102–3–04L1
6October 20, 1982 7:35 p.m. EDTMontreal3–3ParroCapital Centre 12,8492–3–15T1
7October 21, 1982 8:05 p.m. EDT@ N.Y. Islanders3–6RigginNassau Coliseum 14,6332–4–15L1
8October 23, 1982 8:05 p.m. EDTMinnesota1–3ParroCapital Centre 12,7682–5–15L2
9October 27, 1982@ Pittsburgh5–7ParroPittsburgh Civic Arena2–6–15
10October 30, 1982@ St. Louis6–5RigginCheckerdome3–6–17 :
November: 5–3–5 (home: 5–1–0; road: 5–2–4)
GameDate Time (ET)OpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceRecordPointsRecap
11November 3, 1982 8:35 p.m. EST@ Chicago3–3RigginChicago Stadium 13,8643–6–28T1
12November 5, 1982St. Louis3–4RigginCapital Centre3–7–28
13November 7, 1982 7:05 p.m. ESTHartford6–2JensenCapital Centre 12,8164–7–210W1
14November 8, 1982 7:45 p.m. EST@ New Jersey2–2RigginBrendan Byrne Arena 10,2734–7–311T1
15November 10, 1982 7:35 p.m. ESTNew Jersey3–0JensenCapital Centre 12,4455–7–313W1
16November 13, 1982 8:05 p.m. ESTN.Y. Islanders3–1JensenCapital Centre 14,1316–7–315W2
17November 16, 1982 7:35 p.m. ESTCalgary5–3RigginCapital Centre 10,7057–7–317W3
18November 19, 1982@ Winnipeg3–3JensenWinnipeg Arena7–7–418
19November 21, 1982@ Vancouver3–5RigginPacific Coliseum7–8–418
20November 23, 1982 9:35 p.m. EST@ Calgary3–6JensenStampede Corral 7,2427–9–418L2
21November 24, 1982 9:35 p.m. EST@ Edmonton3–3RigginNorthlands Coliseum 17,4987–9–519T1
22November 26, 1982Toronto5–3JensenCapital Centre8–9–521
23November 28, 1982 7:05 p.m. ESTN.Y. Islanders3–3JensenCapital Centre 12,3808–9–622T1 :
December: 9–1–4 (home: 5–1–2; road: 4–0–2)
GameDate Time (ET)OpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceRecordPointsRecap
24December 2, 1982Pittsburgh5–4JensenCapital Centre9–9–624
25December 4, 1982 8:05 p.m. ESTChicago4–2RigginCapital Centre 10,88510–9–626W2
26December 7, 1982Winnipeg3–3JensenCapital Centre10–9–727
27December 9, 1982 7:35 p.m. EST@ New Jersey6–4RigginBrendan Byrne Arena 9,12311–9–729W1
28December 10, 1982N.Y. Rangers4–4JensenCapital Centre11–9–830
29December 12, 1982 7:05 p.m. ESTBoston4–3RigginCapital Centre 10,43512–9–832W1
30December 14, 1982 7:35 p.m. ESTLos Angeles7–2JensenCapital Centre 8,69613–9–834W2
31December 16, 1982 8:35 p.m. EST@ Minnesota4–4RigginMet Center 12,34013–9–935T1
32December 18, 1982@ Pittsburgh3–1JensenPittsburgh Civic Arena14–9–937
33December 19, 1982@ Philadelphia3–1JensenThe Spectrum15–9–939
34December 23, 1982 8:05 p.m. EST@ N.Y. Islanders5–1JensenNassau Coliseum 15,23016–9–941W3
35December 26, 1982Philadelphia3–6JensenCapital Centre16–10–941
36December 28, 1982Pittsburgh6–3JensenCapital Centre17–10–943
37December 30, 1982 7:35 p.m. EST@ Hartford4–4RigginHartford Civic Center 11,38517–10–1044T1 :
January: 7–6–2 (home: 3–5–0; road: 4–1–2)
GameDate Time (ET)OpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceRecordPointsRecap
38January 1, 1983N.Y. Rangers2–7JensenCapital Centre17–11–1044
39January 2, 1983@ Quebec7–4RigginQuebec Coliseum18–11–1046
40January 5, 1983 7:35 p.m. EST@ Detroit5–2JensenJoe Louis Arena 11,67619–11–1048W2
41January 6, 1983Toronto1–3RigginCapital Centre19–12–1048
42January 8, 1983@ St. Louis3–3JensenCheckerdome19–12–1149
43January 11, 1983 7:35 p.m. ESTLos Angeles7–9RigginCapital Centre 9,42219–13–1149L1
44January 14, 1983 7:35 p.m. EST@ Buffalo2–3JensenBuffalo Memorial Auditorium 11,64619–14–1149L2
45January 15, 1983 8:05 p.m. ESTBuffalo2–4JensenCapital Centre 11,40919–15–1149L3
46January 18, 1983Philadelphia4–1JensenCapital Centre20–15–1151
47January 19, 1983 8:35 p.m. EST@ Chicago6–4JensenChicago Stadium 17,48221–15–1153W2
48January 21, 1983Quebec4–5JensenCapital Centre21–16–1153
49January 23, 1983 1:35 p.m. ESTNew Jersey3–1JensenCapital Centre 8,83922–16–1155W1
50January 26, 1983@ Pittsburgh6–2RigginPittsburgh Civic Arena23–16–1157
51January 28, 1983Pittsburgh7–2RigginCapital Centre24–16–1159
52January 29, 1983 8:05 p.m. EST@ Montreal3–3JensenMontreal Forum 16,83524–16–1260T1 :
February: 6–4–2 (home: 4–0–0; road: 2–4–2)
GameDate Time (ET)OpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceRecordPointsRecap
53February 1, 1983 7:35 p.m. ESTDetroit5–2RigginCapital Centre 9,31425–16–1262W1
54February 3, 1983 7:35 p.m. ESTMinnesota3–1JensenCapital Centre 9,68026–16–1264W2
55February 5, 1983 8:05 p.m. ESTNew Jersey5–4JensenCapital Centre 13,15027–16–1266W3
56February 6, 1983@ Quebec4–4RigginQuebec Coliseum27–16–1367
35th All-Star Game in Uniondale, New York
57February 10, 1983 8:05 p.m. EST@ N.Y. Islanders3–8JensenNassau Coliseum 15,05527–17–1367L1
58February 13, 1983Winnipeg6–1RigginCapital Centre28–17–1369
59February 16, 1983@ N.Y. Rangers4–5JensenMadison Square Garden28–18–1369
60February 18, 1983@ Vancouver2–1RigginPacific Coliseum29–18–1371
61February 19, 1983 10:35 p.m. EST@ Los Angeles3–3RigginThe Forum 14,08729–18–1472T1
62February 23, 1983 9:35 p.m. EST@ Edmonton3–6JensenNorthlands Coliseum 17,49829–19–1472L1
63February 24, 1983 9:35 p.m. EST@ Calgary4–2RigginStampede Corral 7,24230–19–1474W1
64February 26, 1983 8:05 p.m. EST@ Montreal1–4RigginMontreal Forum 16,98830–20–1474L1 :
March: 8–4–2 (home: 4–2–2; road: 4–2–0)
GameDate Time (ET)OpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceRecordPointsRecap
65March 2, 1983 7:35 p.m. ESTEdmonton3–5RigginCapital Centre 18,13030–21–1474L2
66March 3, 1983@ N.Y. Rangers4–3JensenMadison Square Garden31–21–1476
67March 5, 1983Philadelphia4–3JensenCapital Centre32–21–1478
68March 8, 1983 7:45 p.m. EST@ New Jersey5–4RigginBrendan Byrne Arena 9,35033–21–1480W3
69March 12, 1983 5:05 p.m. EST@ N.Y. Islanders2–6JensenNassau Coliseum 15,23033–22–1480L1
70March 13, 1983 1:35 p.m. ESTBoston6–4JensenCapital Centre 15,72934–22–1482W1
71March 16, 1983 7:35 p.m. ESTHartford5–4JensenCapital Centre 8,98035–22–1484W2
72March 17, 1983 7:35 p.m. EST@ Boston2–1RigginBoston Garden 13,17936–22–1486W3
73March 20, 1983@ Philadelphia3–2RigginThe Spectrum37–22–1488
74March 23, 1983Vancouver1–1RigginCapital Centre37–22–1589
75March 24, 1983 7:35 p.m. ESTNew Jersey5–3JensenCapital Centre 9,71338–22–1591W1
76March 26, 1983Pittsburgh4–4RigginCapital Centre38–22–1692
77March 27, 1983@ N.Y. Rangers4–5JensenMadison Square Garden38–23–1692
78March 30, 1983 7:35 p.m. ESTN.Y. Islanders1–7RigginCapital Centre 17,84838–24–1692L2 :
April: 1–1–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceRecordPointsRecap
79April 1, 1983 7:35 p.m. EST@ Detroit7–8JensenJoe Louis Arena 13,60938–25–1692L3
80April 3, 1983N.Y. Rangers3–0JensenCapital Centre39–25–1694 :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

### Playoffs

In the first round of the playoffs, the Capitals lost to the Islanders 3 games to 1.
1983 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Eastern Conference First Round vs. (P2) New York Islanders: N.Y. Islanders won 3–1
GameDate Time (ET)OpponentScoreOTDecisionGame site AttendanceSeriesRecap
1April 6, 1983 8:05 p.m. EST@ N.Y. Islanders2–5RigginNassau Coliseum 15,2300–1
2April 7, 1983 8:05 p.m. EST@ N.Y. Islanders4–2JensenNassau Coliseum 15,1501–1
3April 9, 1983 1:05 p.m. ESTN.Y. Islanders2–6JensenCapital Centre 18,1301–2
4April 10, 1983 7:05 p.m. ESTN.Y. Islanders3–6JensenCapital Centre 18,1301–3 :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Dennis Maruk | C | 80 | 31 | 50 | 81 | 71 | -21 | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Gartner | RW | 73 | 38 | 38 | 76 | 54 | -2 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| Bobby Carpenter | C | 80 | 32 | 37 | 69 | 64 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4 |
| Bengt-Ake Gustafsson | RW | 67 | 22 | 42 | 64 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Alan Haworth | C | 74 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 34 | -5 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Milan Novy | C | 73 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Craig Laughlin | RW | 75 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 41 | -7 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Bobby Gould | RW | 80 | 22 | 18 | 40 | 43 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Ken Houston | RW | 71 | 25 | 14 | 39 | 93 | -8 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Glen Currie | C | 68 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gaetan Duchesne | LW | 77 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 52 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Greg Theberge | D | 70 | 8 | 28 | 36 | 20 | -3 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Rod Langway | D | 80 | 3 | 29 | 32 | 75 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Jarvis | C | 80 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 10 | -12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brian Engblom | D | 73 | 5 | 22 | 27 | 59 | -4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Stevens | D | 77 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 195 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Timo Blomqvist | D | 61 | 1 | 17 | 18 | 67 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Valentine | C | 23 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 14 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ted Bulley | LW | 39 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 47 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Randy Holt | D | 70 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 275 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darren Veitch | D | 10 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul MacKinnon | D | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Torrie Robertson | LW | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Norwood | D | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Calder | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Hicks | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Jensen | G | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbie Moore | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Parro | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Riggin | G | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Al Jensen | 2358 | 40 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 135 | 3.44 | 1 |
| Pat Riggin | 2161 | 38 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 121 | 3.36 | 0 |
| Dave Parro | 261 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 4.37 | 0 |
| Robbie Moore | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 4800 | 80 | 39 | 25 | 16 | 276 | 3.45 | 1 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Bobby Gould | RW | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Glen Currie | C | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gaetan Duchesne | LW | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dennis Maruk | C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Engblom | D | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Carpenter | C | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Houston | RW | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Laughlin | RW | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Stevens | D | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bengt-Ake Gustafsson | RW | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Holt | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Jarvis | C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Theberge | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Timo Blomqvist | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Bulley | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Gartner | RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alan Haworth | C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Jensen | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rod Langway | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Milan Novy | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Riggin | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Valentine | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Al Jensen | 139 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4.32 | 0 |
| Pat Riggin | 101 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4.75 | 0 |
| Team: | 240 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 4.50 | 0 |
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;

## Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 5 | Scott Stevens | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 3 | 58 | Milan Novy | Czechoslovakia | Kladno (Czechoslovakia) |
| 5 | 89 | Dean Evason | Canada | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| 6 | 110 | Ed Kastelic | Canada | London Knights (OHL) |
| 8 | 152 | Wally Schreiber | Canada | Regina Pats (WHL) |
| 9 | 173 | Jamie Reeve | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (SJHL) |
| 10 | 194 | Juha Nurmi | Finland | Tampere Tappara (Finland) |
| 11 | 215 | Wayne Prestage | Canada | Seattle Breakers (WHL) |
| 12 | 236 | Jon Holden | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| 12 | 247 | Marco Kallas | United States | St. Louis Sting (NAJHL) |