# 2018–19 Washington Capitals season

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. With losing the series after taking a 2–0 series lead, this was the eleventh time the Capitals have lost a playoff series after taking a 2–game lead in their franchise history.

## Standings

Metropolitan Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Washington Capitals | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 44 | 278 | 249 | +29 | 104 |
| 2 | x – New York Islanders | 82 | 48 | 27 | 7 | 43 | 228 | 196 | +32 | 103 |
| 3 | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 42 | 273 | 241 | +32 | 100 |
| 4 | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 5 | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 7 | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 8 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |

## 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)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecord
1September 16@ Boston1–2 SO0–0–1
2September 18Boston2–50–1–1
3September 20@ Montreal2–50–2–1
4September 21@ Carolina1–50–3–1
5September 25@ St. Louis4–01–3–1
6September 28Carolina4–5 OT1–3–2
7September 30St. Louis5–22–3–2 :

### 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)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1October 3Boston7–0HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5061–0–02Recap
2October 4@ Pittsburgh6–7OTHoltbyPPG Paints Arena18,6271–0–13Recap
3October 10Vegas5–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5062–0–15Recap
4October 11@ New Jersey0–6CopleyPrudential Center16,5142–1–15Recap
5October 13Toronto2–4HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5062–2–15Recap
6October 17NY Rangers4–3OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,5063–2–17Recap
7October 19Florida5–6SOCopleyCapital One Arena18,5063–2–28Recap
8October 22@ Vancouver5–2HoltbyRogers Arena17,2274–2–210Recap
9October 25@ Edmonton1–4HoltbyRogers Place18,3474–3–210Recap
10October 27@ Calgary4–3SOCopleyScotiabank Saddledome17,8325–3–212Recap :
November: 10–4–1, 21 points (Home: 5–2–1; Road: 5–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
11November 1@ Montreal4–6HoltbyBell Centre20,2795–4–212Recap
12November 3Dallas3–4OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,5065–4–313Recap
13November 5Edmonton4–2CopleyCapital One Arena18,5066–4–315Recap
14November 7Pittsburgh2–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5067–4–317Recap
15November 9Columbus1–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5067–5–317Recap
16November 11Arizona1–4HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5067–6–317Recap
17November 13@ Minnesota5–2CopleyXcel Energy Center19,1018–6–319Recap
18November 14@ Winnipeg1–3CopleyBell MTS Place15,3218–7–319Recap
19November 16@ Colorado3–2OTCopleyPepsi Center18,0509–7–321Recap
20November 19@ Montreal5–4OTHoltbyBell Centre21,91110–7–323Recap
21November 21Chicago4–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50611–7–325Recap
22November 23Detroit3–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50612–7–327Recap
23November 24@ NY Rangers5–3CopleyMadison Square Garden16,88413–7–329Recap
24November 26@ NY Islanders4–1HoltbyBarclays Center9,07214–7–331Recap
25November 30New Jersey6–3HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50615–7–333Recap :
December: 9–4–0, 18 points (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 5–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
26December 2Anaheim5–6HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50615–8–333Recap
27December 4@ Vegas3–5HoltbyT-Mobile Arena18,27515–9–333Recap
28December 6@ Arizona4–2CopleyGila River Arena11,91016–9–335Recap
29December 8@ Columbus4–0HoltbyNationwide Arena18,50117–9–337Recap
30December 11Detroit6–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50618–9–339Recap
31December 14@ Carolina6–5SOHoltbyPNC Arena14,44619–9–341Recap
32December 15Buffalo4–3SOCopleyCapital One Arena18,50620–9–343Recap
33December 19Pittsburgh1–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50620–10–343Recap
34December 21Buffalo2–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50621–10–345Recap
35December 22@ Ottawa4–0CopleyCanadian Tire Centre15,60522–10–347Recap
36December 27Carolina3–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50623–10–349Recap
37December 29@ Ottawa3–2CopleyCanadian Tire Centre16,80824–10–351Recap
38December 31Nashville3–6HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50624–11–351Recap :
January: 3–6–3, 9 points (Home: 1–2–2; Road: 2–4–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
39January 3@ St. Louis2–5HoltbyEnterprise Center17,20024–12–351Recap
40January 4@ Dallas1–2OTCopleyAmerican Airlines Center18,53224–12–452Recap
41January 6@ Detroit3–2HoltbyLittle Caesars Arena19,51525–12–454Recap
42January 8Philadelphia5–3CopleyCapital One Arena18,50626–12–456Recap
43January 10@ Boston4–2HoltbyTD Garden17,56527–12–458Recap
44January 12Columbus1–2OTCopleyCapital One Arena18,50627–12–559Recap
45January 14St. Louis1–4CopleyCapital One Arena18,50627–13–559Recap
46January 15@ Nashville2–7CopleyBridgestone Arena17,33627–14–559Recap
47January 18NY Islanders0–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50627–15–559Recap
48January 20@ Chicago5–8CopleyUnited Center21,31627–16–559Recap
49January 22San Jose6–7OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,50627–16–660Recap
50January 23@ Toronto3–6HoltbyScotiabank Arena19,14827–17–660Recap :
February: 9–4–1, 19 points (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 3–3–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
51February 1Calgary4–3HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50628–17–662Recap
52February 3Boston0–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50628–18–662Recap
53February 5Vancouver3–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50629–18–664Recap
54February 7Colorado4–3OTCopleyCapital One Arena18,50630–18–666Recap
55February 9Florida4–5OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,50630–18–767Recap
56February 11Los Angeles6–4CopleyCapital One Arena18,50631–18–769Recap
57February 12@ Columbus0–3HoltbyNationwide Arena15,70131–19–769Recap
58February 14@ San Jose5–1HoltbySAP Center17,56232–19–771Recap
59February 17@ Anaheim2–5HoltbyHonda Center17,49532–20–771Recap
60February 18@ Los Angeles3–2CopleyStaples Center18,23033–20–773Recap
61February 21@ Toronto3–2HoltbyScotiabank Arena19,37834–20–775Recap
62February 23@ Buffalo2–5HoltbyKeyBank Center19,07034–21–775Recap
63February 24NY Rangers6–5OTCopleyCapital One Arena18,50635–21–777Recap
64February 26Ottawa7–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50636–21–779Recap :
March: 11–3–1, 23 points (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 7–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
65March 1@ NY Islanders3–1HoltbyNassau Coliseum13,97137–21–781Recap
66March 3@ NY Rangers3–2SOHoltbyMadison Square Garden17,51738–21–783Recap
67March 6@ Philadelphia5–3HoltbyWells Fargo Center19,23239–21–785Recap
68March 8New Jersey3–0HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50640–21–787Recap
69March 10Winnipeg3–1CopleyCapital One Arena18,50641–21–789Recap
70March 12@ Pittsburgh3–5HoltbyPPG Paints Arena18,64041–22–789Recap
71March 14@ Philadelphia5–2HoltbyWells Fargo Center19,47542–22–791Recap
72March 16@ Tampa Bay3–6HoltbyAmalie Arena19,09242–23–791Recap
73March 19@ New Jersey4–1CopleyPrudential Center14,81543–23–793Recap
74March 20Tampa Bay4–5OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,50643–23–894Recap
75March 22Minnesota1–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50643–24–894Recap
76March 24Philadelphia3–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50644–24–896Recap
77March 26Carolina4–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50645–24–898Recap
78March 28@ Carolina3–2HoltbyPNC Arena14,68046–24–8100Recap
79March 30@ Tampa Bay6–3HoltbyAmalie Arena19,09247–24–8102Recap :
April: 1–2–0, 2 points (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
80April 1@ Florida3–5CopleyBB&T Center14,37647–25–8102Recap
81April 4Montreal2–1HoltbyCapital One Arena18,50648–25–8104Recap
82April 6NY Islanders0–3CopleyCapital One Arena18,50648–26–8104Recap :
Win (2 Points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### 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
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceSeriesRecap
1April 11Carolina4–2HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5061–0Recap
2April 13Carolina4–3OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,5062–0Recap
3April 15@ Carolina0–5HoltbyPNC Arena18,7832–1Recap
4April 18@ Carolina1–2HoltbyPNC Arena19,2022–2Recap
5April 20Carolina6–0HoltbyCapital One Arena18,5063–2Recap
6April 22@ Carolina2–5HoltbyPNC Arena18,9133–3Recap
7April 24Carolina3–42OTHoltbyCapital One Arena18,5063–4Recap :
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 | Details |
| June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22) | To Colorado AvalanchePhilipp Grubauer Brooks Orpik | To Washington Capitals2nd-round pick in 2018 |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | To Vancouver Canucks6th-round pick in 2018 6th-round pick in 2019 | To Washington Capitals6th-round pick in 2018 |
| February 21, 2019 (2019-02-21) | To Los Angeles Kings3rd-round pick in 2019 Conditional 6th-round pick in 2020 | To Washington CapitalsCarl Hagelin |
| February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22) | To Detroit Red WingsMadison Bowey 2nd-round pick in 2020 | To Washington CapitalsNick Jensen BUF's 5th-round pick in 2019 |
| June 14, 2019 (2019-06-14) | To Philadelphia FlyersMatt Niskanen | To Washington CapitalsRadko Gudas |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| 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 (Big Ten) | 2-year |

### Waivers

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

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| 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 |
| June 16, 2019 (2019-06-16) | Carl Hagelin | 4-year |

## 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 | 46$^1$ | Martin Fehervary | D | Slovakia | IK Oskarshamn (Allsvenskan) |
| 2 | 47$^2$ | 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:
* 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.
* 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.