2014–15 Washington Capitals season

The 2014–15 Washington Capitals season was the 41st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. 
==Off-season==
Less than two weeks after the end of the Capitals' 2013–14 season, where the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007, the Washington Capitals announced that Head Coach Adam Oates was fired and General Manager George McPhee would not have his contract with the team renewed.https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/washington-capitals-fire-head-coach-and-long-time-gm/article18280953/ On May 26, 2014, the Capitals promoted Brian MacLellan to be senior vice president and general manager and named Barry Trotz their new head coach.
== Regular season ==
==Playoffs==
The Washington Capitals entered the playoffs as the Metropolitan Division's second seed. They defeated the New York Islanders in the first round, and were defeated by the New York Rangers in the second round.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Pre-season===
2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)	2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–3–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–3–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Recap
1 	September 21 	Buffalo 	0–1 	Washington 	 	Holtby 	16,707 	1–0–0 	Recap
2 	September 22 	Washington 	4–5 	Philadelphia 	 	Grubauer 	17,679 	1–1–0 	Recap
3 	September 24 	Washington 	0–2 	Boston 	 	Copley 	17,215 	1–2–0 	Recap
4 	September 26 	Boston 	4–5 	Washington 	OT 	Peters 	17,426 	2–2–0 	Recap
5 	September 28 	Washington 	2–0 	Montreal 	 	Holtby 	21,287 	3–2–0 	Recap
6 	October 1 	Washington 	1–6 	Buffalo 	 	Holtby 	18,228 	3–3–0 	Recap
7 	October 2 	Philadelphia 	2–3 	Washington 	SO 	Peters 	16,765 	4–3–0 	Recap
8 	October 5 	Carolina 	2–5 	Washington 	 	Holtby 	16,138 	5–3–0 	Recap
===Regular season===
2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log 	2014–15 Game Log
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October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)	October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	October 9 	Montreal 	2–1 	Washington 	SO 	Holtby 	18,506 	0–0–1 	1 	Recap
2 	October 11 	Washington 	4–0 	Boston 	 	Holtby 	17,565 	1–0–1 	3 	Recap
3 	October 14 	San Jose 	6–5 	Washington 	SO 	Peters 	18,506 	1–0–2 	4 	Recap
4 	October 16 	New Jersey 	2–6 	Washington 	 	Holtby 	18,506 	2–0–2 	6 	Recap
5 	October 18 	Florida 	1–2 	Washington 	SO 	Peters 	18,506 	3–0–2 	8 	Recap
6 	October 22 	Washington 	2–3 	Edmonton 	 	Holtby 	16,839 	3–1–2 	8 	Recap
7 	October 25 	Washington 	3–1 	Calgary 	 	Holtby 	19,095 	4–1–2 	10 	Recap
8 	October 26 	Washington 	2–4 	Vancouver 	 	Peters 	18,427 	4–2–2 	10 	Recap
9 	October 29 	Detroit 	4–2 	Washington 	 	Holtby 	18,506 	4–3–2 	10 	Recap
===Playoffs===
2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs 	2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs
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Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M3) New York Islanders: Washington wins 4–3	
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Series 	Recap 	
1 	April 15 	NY Islanders 	4–1 	Washington 	 	Holtby 	18,506 	0–1 	Recap 	
2 	April 17 	NY Islanders 	3–4 	Washington 	 	Grubauer 	18,506 	1–1 	Recap 	
3 	April 19 	Washington 	1–2 	NY Islanders 	OT 	Holtby 	16,170 	1–2 	Recap 	
4 	April 21 	Washington 	2–1 	NY Islanders 	OT 	Holtby 	16,170 	2–2 	Recap 	
5 	April 23 	NY Islanders 	1–5 	Washington 	 	Holtby 	18,506 	3–2 	Recap 	
6 	April 25 	Washington 	1–3 	NY Islanders 	 	Holtby 	16,170 	3–3 	Recap 	
7 	April 27 	NY Islanders 	1–2 	Washington 	 	Holtby 	18,506 	4–3 	Recap 	
==Player statistics==
Final stats
;Skaters
 Regular Season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	81	53	28	81	10	58
 	82	18	60	78	5 	40
 	82	12	43	55	11	28
 	82	20	27	47	6 	10
 	72	10	35	45	15	34
 	82	21	22	43	11	53
 	80	11	26	37	10	24
 	82	19	15	34	−4	30
 	75	19	14	33	8 	20
 	82	4 	27	31	7 	47
 	53	9 	13	22	12	10
 	82	5 	16	21	14	20
 	66	7 	13	20	−2	24
 	62	10	10	20	6 	20
 	77	7 	12	19	−1	51
 	78	0 	19	19	5 	66
 	67	4 	13	17	−1	172
† 	18	4 	3 	7 	−1	6
 	53	0 	6 	6 	4 	68
‡ 	35	0 	5 	5 	1 	10
 	39	1 	3 	4 	−2	10
† 	17	0 	2 	2 	5 	11
 	13	1 	1 	2 	4 	23
 	5 	1 	0 	1 	1 	2
 	2 	1 	0 	1 	1 	0
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	1 	4
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	−1	0
 	4 	0 	0 	0 	1 	4
 Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	14	3	6	9	1 	2
 	14	5	4	9	−3	6
 	14	3	5	8	−3	2
 	14	3	4	7	4 	4
 	14	5	2	7	4 	8
 	14	1	5	6	3 	4
 	14	1	4	5	0 	4
 	14	0	4	4	−2	0
 	14	2	2	4	0 	6
 	14	1	3	4	2 	2
 	14	0	3	3	−3	10
 	11	2	1	3	2 	0
 	14	0	2	2	5 	8
 	14	1	1	2	1 	0
 	14	0	2	2	−1	14
 	14	0	1	1	−3	5
 	10	1	0	1	−5	2
 	13	0	1	1	−2	25
 	4 	0	0	0	−1	2
 	4 	0	0	0	−1	2
;Goaltenders
 Regular Season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	73	72	4247	41	20	10	157	2.22	2044	.923	9	0	2	2
 	12	9 	647 	3 	6 	1 	35 	3.25	294 	.881	0	0	0	0
 	1 	1 	65 	1 	0 	0 	2 	1.85	25 	.920	0	0	0	0
 Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	13	13	806	6	7	23	1.71	412	.944	1	0	1	0
 	1 	1 	60 	1	0	3 	3.00	21 	.857	0	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.
==Roster==
== Notable achievements ==
=== Awards ===
 Regular Season
Player	Award 	Awarded
 	NHL Second Star of the Week	January 5, 2015
 	NHL All-Star game selection	January 10, 2015
 	NHL First Star of the Month	February 2, 2015
 	NHL Third Star of the Month	March 1, 2015
=== Milestones ===
 Regular Season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
 	1st Career NHL Game 	October 9, 2014
 	1st Career NHL Game1st Career NHL Goal1st Career NHL Point	October 9, 2014
A. Burakovsky	1st Career NHL Assist 	October 14, 2014
L. O'Brien 	1st Career NHL Goal 	October 26, 2014
 	800th Career NHL Game 	October 29, 2014
 	500th Career NHL Game 	October 29, 2014
 	100th Career NHL Assist 	November 2, 2014
 	Capitals All-Time Franchise Points Record 	November 4, 2014
 	200th Career NHL Game 	November 7, 2014
A. Ovechkin 	400th Career NHL Assist 	November 8, 2014
A. Ovechkin 	700th Career NHL Game 	November 26, 2014
 	400th Career NHL Game 	December 2, 2014
 	200th Career NHL Point 	December 6, 2014
 	300th Career NHL Point 	December 6, 2014
 	100th Career NHL Game 	December 11, 2014
M. Johansson 	300th Career NHL Game 	January 1, 2015
 	400th Career NHL Assist 	January 27, 2015
 	500th Career NHL Game 	February 3, 2015
 	400th Career NHL Game 	February 11, 2015
J. Ward 	500th Career NHL Game 	March 3, 2015
 	Capitals All-Time Franchise Assists Record 	March 15, 2015
 	1st Career NHL Game 	April 8, 2015
 	20th Career NHL Shutout 	April 8, 2015
S. Galiev 	1st Career NHL Goal1st Career NHL Point 	April 11, 2015
==Transactions==
The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season.
===Trades===
June 28, 2014 	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 20143rd-round pick in 2014 	To Washington Capitals 2nd-round pick in 2014
June 28, 2014 	To Winnipeg Jets 6th-round pick in 2014NSH's 7th-round pick in 20147th-round pick in 2015	To Washington Capitals Edward Pasquale6th-round pick in 2014
June 28, 2014 	To New York Rangers 4th-round pick in 2014CHI's 4th-round pick in 2014 	To Washington Capitals 3rd-round pick in 2014
February 28, 2015	To Carolina Hurricanes Jack HillenARZ's 4th-round pick in 2015 	To Washington Capitals Tim Gleason
March 1, 2015 	To Calgary Flames 2nd-round pick in 20153rd-round pick in 2015 	To Washington Capitals Curtis Glencross
=== Free agents acquired ===
Date 	Player 	Former team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
July 1, 2014 	Brooks Orpik 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5-years, $27.5 million 	
July 1, 2014 	Justin Peters	Carolina Hurricanes 	2-years, $1.9 million 	
July 1, 2014 	Matt Niskanen	Pittsburgh Penguins 	7-years, $40.25 million 	
July 1, 2014 	Mike Moore 	Providence Bruins 	1-year, $550,000 	
July 1, 2014 	Jon Landry 	Iowa Wild 	1-year, $550,000 	
July 1, 2014 	Chris Conner 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	1 year, $550,000 	
July 4, 2014 	Tim Kennedy 	Arizona Coyotes 	1-year, $550,000 	
July 4, 2014 	Kris Newbury 	Philadelphia Flyers 	1-year, $550,000 	
October 6, 2014	Liam O'Brien 	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	3 years, $1.865 million entry-level contract	
=== Free agents lost ===
Date 	Player 	New team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2014 	David Leggio 	New York Islanders	1 year, $700,000 	
July 2, 2014 	Joel Rechlicz 	Minnesota Wild 	1 year, $600,000 	
July 2, 2014 	Mikhail Grabovski 	New York Islanders	4 years, $20 million 	
July 3, 2014 	Tyson Strachan 	Buffalo Sabres 	1 year, $650,000 	
August 8, 2014	Julien Brouillette	Winnipeg Jets 	1 year, $600,000 	
=== Claimed via waivers ===
Player	Previous team	Date
=== Lost via waivers ===
Player	New team	Date
===Player signings===
Date 	Player 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
July 1, 2014 	Michael Latta 	2-years, $1.15 million 	
July 9, 2014 	Edward Pasquale 	1-year, $550,000 	
July 13, 2014 	Nate Schmidt 	1-year, $625,000 	
July 15, 2014 	Vitek Vanecek 	3-year, $2.3275 million entry level contract	
July 15, 2014 	Jakub Vrana 	3-year, $2.775 million entry level contract 	
July 25, 2014 	Nathan Walker 	3-year, entry level contract 	
September 9, 2014	Cameron Schilling	1 year 	
March 4, 2015 	Tyler Lewington 	3-year, entry level contract 	
March 31, 2015 	Travis Boyd 	2-year, entry level contract 	
April 17, 2015 	Riley Barber 	2-year, entry level contract 	
June 2, 2015 	Garrett Mitchell 	2-years 	
June 15, 2015 	Philipp Grubauer 	2-years, $1.5 million 	
June 17, 2015 	Nate Schmidt 	2-years, $1.625 million 	
=== Suspensions/fines ===
Player 	Explanation 	Length	Salary 	Date issued
Tom Wilson	Diving/Embellishment during NHL Game No. 1057 in Minnesota on Thursday, March 19, 2015, at 14:45 of the second period.	— 	$2,000.00	March 27, 2015
==Draft picks==
The 2014 NHL Entry Draft will be held on June 27–28, 2014, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Round	# 	Player 	Pos 	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	13 	Jakub Vrana 	L/RW	 	Linkopings HC (Sweden)
2 	39 	Vitek Vanecek 	G 	 	Bili Tygri Liberec (Czech Republic)
3 	89 	Nathan Walker 	LW 	 	Hershey Bears (AHL)
5 	134	Shane Gersich 	C/LW	 	USA U-18 (USHL)
6 	159	Steven Spinner	RW 	 	Eden Prairie High School (USHS–MN)
7 	194	Kevin Elgestal	RW 	 	Frolunda HC (J20 SuperElit)
;Notes
*The Buffalo Sabres' second-round pick (from the Minnesota Wild originally from the Winnipeg Jets) went to the Washington Capitals as a result of a June 28, 2014 trade that sent a 2014 second-round pick and 2014 third-round pick to the Sabres in exchange for this pick.
*The Washington Capitals' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 28, 2014 trade that sent a 2014 second-round pick (from the Minnesota Wild originally from the Winnipeg Jets) to the Capitals exchange for a 2014 third-round pick and this pick.
*The Washington Capitals' third-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 28, 2014 trade that sent a 2014 second-round pick (from the Minnesota Wild originally from the Winnipeg Jets) to the Capitals exchange for a 2014 second-round pick and this pick.
*The New York Rangers' third-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as a result of a June 28, 2014 trade that sent two 2014 fourth-round picks to the Rangers in exchange for this pick.
*The Washington Capitals' fourth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as a result of a June 28, 2014 trade that sent a 2014 third-round pick to the Capitals exchange for a 2014 fourth-round pick (from the New York Islanders originally from the Chicago Blackhawks) and this pick.
*The Winnipeg Jets' sixth-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as a result of a June 28, 2014 trade that sent a 2014 sixth-round pick, a 2014 seventh-round pick (from the Nashville Predators) and a 2015 seventh-round pick to the Jets in exchange for Edward Pasquale and this pick.
*The Washington Capitals' sixth-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as a result of a June 28, 2014 trade that sent Edward Pasquale and a 2014 sixth-round pick to the Capitals exchange for a 2014 seventh-round pick (from the Nashville Predators) and a 2015 seventh-round pick and this pick.
==References==
Washington
Category:Washington Capitals seasons