1997–98 Washington Capitals season

The 1997–98 Washington Capitals season saw the team reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in club history. Peter Bondra's 52 goals led the team; veterans Dale Hunter, Joe Juneau and Adam Oates returned to old form; and Olaf Kolzig had a solid .920 save percentage as the Caps got past the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres (the latter on a dramatic overtime win in Game 6 on a goal by Joe Juneau) en route to the team's first Stanley Cup Finals appearance. The Capitals won six overtime games, three in each of their series against the Bruins and Sabres. However, they were no match for the defending cup champs, the Detroit Red Wings, who won in a four-game sweep.

1997–98 Washington Capitals
Eastern Conference champions
Division	3rd Atlantic
Conference	4th Eastern
1997–98 record	40–30–12
Home record	23–12–6
Road record	17–18–6
Goals for	219
Goals against	202
Team information
General Manager	George McPhee
Coach	Ron Wilson
Captain	Dale Hunter
Team leaders
Goals	Peter Bondra (52)
Assists	Adam Oates (58)
Points	Peter Bondra (78)

After this season, none of Washington's "big four" professional sports team would ever make the semi-final playoff round until the Capitals themselves returned to the Conference finals in 2018. The WNBA's Washington Mystics reached the semifinals in 2002 and 2017, but reached the WNBA Finals in 2018. Finally, after 20 years, the Capitals returned to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in franchise history and won their first Stanley Cup.

Offseason

Regular season

• Adam Oates, Phil Housley and Dale Hunter, all scored their 1,000th career point, the only time in NHL history that one team had three different players reach that same milestone in a single season.

The Capitals had a very effective penalty kill during the regular season, allowing the fewest power-play goals (39) and finishing with the highest penalty-kill percentage (89.23%).[1]

Season standings

Atlantic Division

No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	New Jersey Devils	82	48	23	11	225	166	107
2	Philadelphia Flyers	82	42	29	11	242	193	95
3	Washington Capitals	82	40	30	12	219	202	92
4	New York Islanders	82	30	41	11	212	225	71
5	New York Rangers	82	25	39	18	197	231	68
6	Florida Panthers	82	24	43	15	203	256	63
7	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	17	55	10	151	269	44

Eastern Conference[2]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	48	23	11	225	166	107
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	82	40	24	18	228	188	98
3	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	42	29	11	242	193	95
4	Washington Capitals	ATL	82	40	30	12	219	202	92
5	Boston Bruins	NE	82	39	30	13	221	194	91
6	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	36	29	17	211	187	89
7	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	37	32	13	235	208	87
8	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	34	33	15	193	200	83
9	Carolina Hurricanes	NE	82	33	41	8	200	219	74
10	New York Islanders	ATL	82	30	41	11	212	225	71
11	New York Rangers	ATL	82	25	39	18	197	231	68
12	Florida Panthers	ATL	82	24	43	15	203	256	63
13	Tampa Bay Lightning	ATL	82	17	55	10	151	269	44

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 1, 1997	4–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	1–0–0
2	W	October 3, 1997	6–2	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	2–0–0
3	W	October 4, 1997	4–1	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	3–0–0
4	W	October 8, 1997	6–3	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	4–0–0
5	L	October 9, 1997	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	4–1–0
6	W	October 11, 1997	3–1	New York Islanders (1997–98)	5–1–0
7	W	October 15, 1997	2–0	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	6–1–0
8	W	October 24, 1997	3–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	7–1–0
9	L	October 22, 1997	3–4	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	7–2–0
10	T	October 23, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	7–2–1
11	L	October 25, 1997	2–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	7–3–1
12	L	October 29, 1997	3–4	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	7–4–1
13	T	October 31, 1997	2–2 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	7–4–2
14	L	November 1, 1997	1–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	7–5–2
15	W	November 4, 1997	2–1	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	8–5–2
16	L	November 6, 1997	0–2	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	8–6–2
17	W	November 8, 1997	2–1	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	9–6–2
18	L	November 9, 1997	2–3	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	9–7–2
19	W	November 12, 1997	4–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	10–7–2
20	W	November 13, 1997	3–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	11–7–2
21	W	November 15, 1997	3–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	12–7–2
22	T	November 18, 1997	6–6 OT	Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	12–7–3
23	L	November 22, 1997	2–5	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	12–8–3
24	W	November 23, 1997	5–2	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	13–8–3
25	L	November 26, 1997	5–6	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	13–9–3
26	L	November 27, 1997	1–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	13–10–3
27	T	November 29, 1997	1–1 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	13–10–4
28	W	December 2, 1997	3–2 OT	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	14–10–4
29	W	December 5, 1997	3–2 OT	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	15–10–4
30	L	December 7, 1997	4–5	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	15–11–4
31	T	December 10, 1997	3–3 OT	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	15–11–5
32	L	December 12, 1997	4–6	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	15–12–5
33	T	December 13, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	15–12–6
34	T	December 16, 1997	2–2 OT	New York Islanders (1997–98)	15–12–7
35	L	December 18, 1997	0–4	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	15–13–7
36	W	December 20, 1997	2–1	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	16–13–7
37	T	December 23, 1997	1–1 OT	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	16–13–8
38	L	December 26, 1997	1–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	16–14–8
39	L	December 27, 1997	0–3	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	16–15–8
40	W	December 29, 1997	4–2	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	17–15–8
41	W	January 1, 1998	3–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	18–15–8
42	L	January 3, 1998	2–3	New York Rangers (1997–98)	18–16–8
43	W	January 6, 1998	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	19–16–8
44	W	January 8, 1998	5–3	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	20–16–8
45	W	January 9, 1998	4–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	21–16–8
46	L	January 11, 1998	0–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	21–17–8
47	W	January 13, 1998	4–0	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	22–17–8
48	W	January 15, 1998	3–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	23–17–8
49	W	January 21, 1998	3–2 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	24–17–8
50	W	January 25, 1998	4–1	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	25–17–8
51	T	January 26, 1998	2–2 OT	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	25–17–9
52	T	January 28, 1998	2–2 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	25–17–10
53	W	January 31, 1998	3–2 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	26–17–10
54	L	February 1, 1998	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	26–18–10
55	T	February 4, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	26–18–11
56	L	February 7, 1998	3–4	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	26–19–11
57	L	February 25, 1998	3–4	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	26–20–11
58	L	February 28, 1998	2–5	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	26–21–11
59	L	March 1, 1998	0–3	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	26–22–11
60	L	March 3, 1998	0–3	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	26–23–11
61	L	March 5, 1998	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	26–24–11
62	W	March 7, 1998	6–3	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	27–24–11
63	W	March 9, 1998	5–2	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	28–24–11
64	W	March 12, 1998	2–1	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	29–24–11
65	L	March 14, 1998	0–4	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	29–25–11
66	W	March 16, 1998	2–1	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	30–25–11
67	W	March 18, 1998	1–0	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	31–25–11
68	W	March 20, 1998	2–0	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	32–25–11
69	L	March 21, 1998	2–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	32–26–11
70	L	March 25, 1998	2–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	32–27–11
71	L	March 26, 1998	2–3	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	32–28–11
72	W	March 28, 1998	3–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	33–28–11
73	W	March 31, 1998	5–2	New York Islanders (1997–98)	34–28–11
74	W	April 2, 1998	4–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	35–28–11
75	W	April 4, 1998	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	36–28–11
76	T	April 6, 1998	2–2 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	36–28–12
77	L	April 8, 1998	1–2 OT	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	36–29–12
78	L	April 11, 1998	3–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	36–30–12
79	W	April 13, 1998	2–0	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	37–30–12
80	W	April 14, 1998	3–1	New York Rangers (1997–98)	38–30–12
81	W	April 18, 1998	4–3	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	39–30–12
82	W	April 19, 1998	2–1	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	40–30–12

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals

Boston vs. Washington
Date	Away	Home
April 22	Boston 1	3 Washington
April 24	Boston 4	3 Washington	2OT
April 26	Washington 3	2 Boston	2OT
April 28	Washington 3	0 Boston
May 1	Boston 4	0 Washington
May 3	Washington 3	2 Boston	OT
Washington wins series 4–2

Eastern Conference Semi-finals

Ottawa vs. Washington
Date	Away	Home
May 7	Ottawa 2	4 Washington
May 9	Ottawa 1	6 Washington
May 11	Washington 3	4 Ottawa
May 13	Washington 2	0 Ottawa
May 15	Ottawa 0	3 Washington
Washington win series 4–1

Eastern Conference Finals

Buffalo vs. Washington
Date	Away	Home
May 23	Buffalo 2	0 Washington
May 25	Buffalo 2	3 Washington	OT
May 28	Washington 4	3 Buffalo	OT
May 30	Washington 2	0 Buffalo
June 2	Buffalo 2	1 Washington
June 4	Washington 3	2 Buffalo	OT
Washington wins series 4–2 and Prince of Wales Trophy

Stanley Cup Finals

Washington vs. Detroit
Date	Away	Home
June 9	Washington 1	2 Detroit
June 11	Washington 4	5 Detroit	OT
June 13	Detroit 2	1 Washington
June 16	Detroit 4	1 Washington
Detroit wins series 4–0 and Stanley Cup
Steve Yzerman (Detroit) wins Conn Smythe Trophy

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Peter Bondra	RW	76	52	26	78	44	14	11	5	13
Adam Oates	C	82	18	58	76	36	6	3	2	3
Calle Johansson	D	73	15	20	35	30	-11	10	1	1
Steve Konowalchuk	LW	80	10	24	34	80	9	2	0	2
Joe Juneau	C	56	9	22	31	26	-8	4	1	1
Phil Housley	D	64	6	25	31	24	-10	4	1	0
Richard Zednik	RW	65	17	9	26	28	-2	2	0	2
Dale Hunter	C	82	8	18	26	103	1	0	0	1
Andrew Brunette	LW	28	11	12	23	12	2	4	0	2
Sergei Gonchar	D	72	5	16	21	66	2	2	0	0
Mark Tinordi	D	47	8	9	17	39	9	0	1	0
Chris Simon	LW	28	7	10	17	38	-1	4	0	1
Andrei Nikolishin	C	38	6	10	16	14	1	1	0	1
Jan Bulis	C	48	5	11	16	18	-5	0	0	0
Sylvain Cote	D	59	1	15	16	36	-5	0	0	0
Craig Berube	LW	74	6	9	15	189	-3	0	0	0
Kelly Miller	LW	76	7	7	14	41	-2	0	3	3
Todd Krygier	LW	45	2	12	14	30	-3	0	0	1
Esa Tikkanen	LW	20	2	10	12	2	-4	1	0	2
Joe Reekie	D	68	2	8	10	70	15	0	0	1
Brian Bellows	LW	11	6	3	9	6	-3	5	0	2
Michal Pivonka	C	33	3	6	9	20	5	0	0	1
Brendan Witt	D	64	1	7	8	112	-11	0	0	0
Jeff Toms	C	33	3	4	7	8	-11	0	0	1
Ken Klee	D	51	4	2	6	46	-3	0	0	1
Jeff Brown	D	9	0	6	6	6	4	0	0	0
Jaroslav Svejkovsky	RW	17	4	1	5	10	-5	2	0	1
Mike Eagles	C/LW	36	1	3	4	16	-2	0	0	0
Jan Benda	C	9	0	3	3	6	1	0	0	0
Nolan Baumgartner	D	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Benoit Gratton	C	6	0	1	1	6	1	0	0	0
Olaf Kolzig	G	64	0	1	1	12	0	0	0	0
Bill Ranford	G	22	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brad Church	LW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Harlock	D	6	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	0
Dwayne Hay	LW	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Stewart Malgunas	D	8	0	0	0	12	1	0	0	0
Ryan Mulhern	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pat Peake	C	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Olaf Kolzig	3788	64	33	18	10	139	2.20	5	1729	1590	.920
Bill Ranford	1183	22	7	12	2	55	2.79	0	555	500	.901
Team:	4971	82	40	30	12	194	2.34	5	2284	2090	.915

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Joe Juneau	C	21	7	10	17	8	1	1	4
Adam Oates	C	21	6	11	17	8	1	1	1
Andrei Nikolishin	C	21	1	13	14	12	1	0	0
Brian Bellows	LW	21	6	7	13	6	2	0	1
Peter Bondra	RW	17	7	5	12	12	3	0	2
Sergei Gonchar	D	21	7	4	11	30	3	1	2
Richard Zednik	RW	17	7	3	10	16	2	0	0
Calle Johansson	D	21	2	8	10	16	0	0	0
Esa Tikkanen	LW	21	3	3	6	20	1	0	0
Phil Housley	D	18	0	4	4	4	0	0	0
Dale Hunter	C	21	0	4	4	30	0	0	0
Todd Krygier	LW	13	1	2	3	6	0	0	1
Joe Reekie	D	21	1	2	3	20	0	0	0
Mark Tinordi	D	21	1	2	3	42	0	0	0
Michal Pivonka	C	13	0	3	3	0	0	0	0
Jeff Brown	D	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Mike Eagles	C/LW	12	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Craig Berube	LW	21	1	0	1	21	0	0	1
Ken Klee	D	9	1	0	1	10	0	0	0
Chris Simon	LW	18	1	0	1	26	0	0	0
Brendan Witt	D	16	1	0	1	14	0	0	0
Kelly Miller	LW	10	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Olaf Kolzig	G	21	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Jaroslav Svejkovsky	RW	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Jeff Toms	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Olaf Kolzig	1351	21	12	9	44	1.95	4	740	696	.941
Team:	1351	21	12	9	44	1.95	4	740	696	.941

[3]

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; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

Awards & records

Transactions

Roster

Final[4]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
38		Nolan Baumgartner	D	R	22	1994	Calgary, Alberta
23		Brian Bellows	RW	R	33	1998	St. Catherines, Ontario
28		Jan Benda	C	R	26	1998	Reet, Belgium
27		Craig Berube	LW	L	32	1993	Calahoo, Alberta
12		Peter Bondra	RW	L	30	1990	Lutsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
28		Jeff Brown	D	R	32	1998	Ottawa, Ontario
18		Andrew Brunette	LW	L	24	1993	Sudbury, Ontario
8		Jan Bulis	C	L	20	1996	Pardubice, Czechoslovakia
25		Brad Church	LW	L	21	1995	Dauphin, Manitoba
3		Sylvain Cote	D	R	32	1991	Quebec City, Quebec
36		Mike Eagles	RW	L	35	1995	Sussex, New Brunswick
55		Sergei Gonchar	D	L	24	1992	Chelyabinsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
48		Benoit Gratton	C	L	21	1995	Montreal, Quebec
43		David Harlock	D	L	27	1997	Toronto, Ontario
42		Dwayne Hay	LW	L	21	1995	London, Ontario
96		Phil Housley	D	L	34	1996	St. Paul, Minnesota
32		Dale Hunter (C)	C	L	37	1987	Petrolia, Ontario
6		Calle Johansson	D	L	31	1989	Gothenburg, Sweden
90		Joe Juneau	C	L	30	1994	Pont-Rouge, Quebec
2		Ken Klee	D	R	27	1990	Indianapolis, Indiana
37		Olaf Kolzig	G	L	28	1989	Johannesburg, South Africa
22		Steve Konowalchuk	LW	L	25	1991	Salt Lake City, Utah
9		Todd Krygier	RW	L	32	1991	Chicago Heights, Illinois
4		Stewart Malgunas	D	L	28	1996	Prince George, British Columbia
10		Kelly Miller	RW	L	35	1987	Lansing, Michigan
26		Ryan Mulhern	C	R	25	1997	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
13		Andrei Nikolishin	C	L	25	1996	Vorkuta, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
77		Adam Oates	C	R	35	1997	Weston, Ontario
14		Pat Peake	RW	R	25	1991	Rochester, Michigan
20		Michal Pivonka	C	L	32	1984	Kladno, Czechoslovakia
30		Bill Ranford	G	L	31	1997	Brandon, Manitoba
29		Joe Reekie	D	L	33	1994	Victoria, British Columbia
17		Chris Simon	LW	L	26	1996	Wawa, Ontario
34		Jaroslav Svejkovsky	RW	R	21	1996	Plzeň, Czechoslovakia
11		Esa Tikkanen	LW	L	33	1998	Helsinki, Finland
24		Mark Tinordi	D	L	32	1995	Red Deer, Alberta
21		Jeff Toms	C	L	24	1997	Swift Current, Saskatchewan
19		Brendan Witt	D	L	23	1993	Humboldt, Saskatchewan
44		Richard Zednik	RW	L	22	1994	Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia

Draft picks

See also: List of Washington Capitals draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 21, 1997 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[5]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	9	Nick Boynton	D	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
2	35	Jean-Francois Fortin	D	Canada	Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL)
4	89	Curtis Cruickshank	G	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
5	116	Kevin Caulfield	RW	United States	Boston College (NCAA)
6	143	Henrik Petre	D	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF-jr. (Allsvenskan)
8	200	Pierre-Luc Therrien	G	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
9	226	Matt Oikawa	RW	Canada	St. Lawrence University (NCAA)

Farm teams

Portland Pirates

See also

• 1997–98 NHL season

References

• Capitals on Hockey Database

1. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1998.html
2. "1997–1998 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
3. "1997-98 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
4. "1997-98 Washington Capitals Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com.
5. "1997 NHL Draft". NHL. Retrieved July 20, 2017.