1979–80 Washington Capitals season

The 1979–80 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals sixth season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

1979–80 Washington Capitals
Division	5th Patrick
1979–80 record	27–40–13
Goals for	261
Goals against	293
Team information
General Manager	Max McNab
Coach	Danny Belisle Gary Green
Captain	Ryan Walter
Alternate captains	None
Average attendance	11,038 (60.9%)

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	48	12	20	327	254	116
New York Islanders	80	39	28	13	281	247	91
New York Rangers	80	38	32	10	308	284	86
Atlanta Flames	80	35	32	13	282	269	83
Washington Capitals	80	27	40	13	261	293	67

[1]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.

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1979	3–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	0–1–0
2	L	October 13, 1979	2–5	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	0–2–0
3	W	October 14, 1979	5–3	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	1–2–0
4	W	October 16, 1979	8–6	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	2–2–0
5	L	October 19, 1979	3–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	2–3–0
6	L	October 20, 1979	1–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	2–4–0
7	L	October 24, 1979	3–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	2–5–0
8	L	October 27, 1979	3–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	2–6–0
9	W	October 28, 1979	6–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	3–6–0
10	T	October 30, 1979	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	3–6–1
11	T	November 2, 1979	1–1	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	3–6–2
12	L	November 3, 1979	1–7	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	3–7–2
13	L	November 5, 1979	0–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	3–8–2
14	W	November 7, 1979	6–3	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	4–8–2
15	L	November 10, 1979	3–5	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	4–9–2
16	L	November 13, 1979	3–5	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	4–10–2
17	L	November 15, 1979	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	4–11–2
18	L	November 16, 1979	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	4–12–2
19	L	November 18, 1979	2–4	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	4–13–2
20	T	November 20, 1979	3–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	4–13–3
21	L	November 21, 1979	0–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	4–14–3
22	L	November 24, 1979	1–6	Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	4–15–3
23	T	November 25, 1979	2–2	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	4–15–4
24	L	November 28, 1979	2–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	4–16–4
25	W	December 1, 1979	7–2	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	5–16–4
26	L	December 2, 1979	0–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)	5–17–4
27	T	December 4, 1979	3–3	Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	5–17–5
28	L	December 7, 1979	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	5–18–5
29	L	December 8, 1979	1–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	5–19–5
30	L	December 12, 1979	4–5	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	5–20–5
31	W	December 15, 1979	5–4	New York Rangers (1979–80)	6–20–5
32	L	December 19, 1979	4–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	6–21–5
33	W	December 21, 1979	2–1	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	7–21–5
34	L	December 22, 1979	1–2	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	7–22–5
35	W	December 26, 1979	8–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	8–22–5
36	W	December 28, 1979	6–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	9–22–5
37	L	December 30, 1979	2–5	@ New York Rangers (1979–80)	9–23–5
38	W	January 4, 1980	6–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	10–23–5
39	T	January 5, 1980	2–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	10–23–6
40	W	January 11, 1980	7–4	Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	11–23–6
41	L	January 12, 1980	2–5	@ New York Islanders (1979–80)	11–24–6
42	L	January 15, 1980	4–7	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	11–25–6
43	L	January 16, 1980	2–5	Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	11–26–6
44	T	January 19, 1980	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	11–26–7
45	L	January 20, 1980	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	11–27–7
46	W	January 22, 1980	5–4	Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	12–27–7
47	T	January 26, 1980	1–1	Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)	12–27–8
48	W	January 27, 1980	7–1	New York Islanders (1979–80)	13–27–8
49	L	January 30, 1980	2–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	13–28–8
50	L	February 1, 1980	2–4	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	13–29–8
51	L	February 2, 1980	3–6	New York Rangers (1979–80)	13–30–8
52	T	February 6, 1980	2–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	13–30–9
53	W	February 8, 1980	6–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)	14–30–9
54	W	February 12, 1980	5–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	15–30–9
55	L	February 15, 1980	2–8	@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)	15–31–9
56	W	February 16, 1980	5–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)	16–31–9
57	W	February 19, 1980	3–1	Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	17–31–9
58	L	February 21, 1980	0–3	@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	17–32–9
59	W	February 23, 1980	6–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1979–80)	18–32–9
60	T	February 24, 1980	1–1	@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	18–32–10
61	W	February 26, 1980	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)	19–32–10
62	L	February 28, 1980	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	19–33–10
63	L	March 1, 1980	3–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)	19–34–10
64	L	March 2, 1980	1–3	Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	19–35–10
65	W	March 5, 1980	7–5	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	20–35–10
66	W	March 8, 1980	9–5	Hartford Whalers (1979–80)	21–35–10
67	W	March 9, 1980	3–1	New York Islanders (1979–80)	22–35–10
68	W	March 12, 1980	6–4	Boston Bruins (1979–80)	23–35–10
69	W	March 15, 1980	5–2	Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)	24–35–10
70	T	March 16, 1980	3–3	@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)	24–35–11
71	W	March 18, 1980	4–1	Colorado Rockies (1979–80)	25–35–11
72	L	March 21, 1980	3–4	Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)	25–36–11
73	L	March 22, 1980	2–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	25–37–11
74	L	March 24, 1980	1–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)	25–38–11
75	W	March 26, 1980	4–2	St. Louis Blues (1979–80)	26–38–11
76	T	March 29, 1980	3–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	26–38–12
77	L	March 30, 1980	0–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	26–39–12
78	W	April 1, 1980	6–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)	27–39–12
79	L	April 3, 1980	2–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)	27–40–12
80	T	April 5, 1980	4–4	Atlanta Flames (1979–80)	27–40–13

Playoffs

The Capitals still failed to make the playoffs. Washington was tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the last berth with two games remaining, but lost to the Philadelphia Flyers and tied the Atlanta Flames, while the Oilers tied the Minnesota North Stars and defeated the Colorado Rockies to finish two points ahead.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Mike Gartner	RW	77	36	32	68	66	15	4	0	3
Ryan Walter	C/LW	80	24	42	66	106	-1	12	1	1
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson	RW	80	22	38	60	17	-17	6	1	3
Robert Picard	D	78	11	43	54	122	-21	5	0	1
Rolf Edberg	C	63	23	23	46	12	-5	4	1	7
Paul Mulvey	LW	77	15	19	34	240	-8	2	0	3
Mark Lofthouse	RW/C	68	15	18	33	20	-9	1	0	1
Bob Sirois	RW	49	15	17	32	18	-5	4	1	2
Guy Charron	C	33	11	20	31	6	-2	5	0	1
Dennis Maruk	C	27	10	17	27	8	0	1	1	0
Tom Rowe	RW	41	10	17	27	76	-9	4	0	2
Wes Jarvis	C	63	11	15	26	8	-3	0	0	0
Rick Green	D	71	4	20	24	52	-10	0	0	1
Antero Lehtonen	LW	65	9	12	21	14	-4	2	0	1
Alan Hangsleben	D	37	10	7	17	45	1	2	0	1
Mike Kaszycki	C	28	7	10	17	10	-5	1	0	0
Leif Svensson	D	47	4	11	15	21	-10	0	0	0
Pierre Bouchard	D	54	5	9	14	16	-7	0	0	0
Paul MacKinnon	D	63	1	11	12	22	-1	0	0	0
Errol Rausse	LW	24	6	2	8	0	4	0	0	0
Peter Scamurra	D	23	3	5	8	6	-1	1	0	0
Gord Lane	D	19	2	4	6	53	1	0	0	0
Greg Polis	LW	28	1	5	6	19	-6	0	0	0
Pat Ribble	D	19	1	5	6	30	2	0	0	0
Yvon Labre	D	18	0	5	5	38	3	0	0	0
Tim Coulis	LW	19	1	2	3	27	-6	0	0	0
Glen Currie	C	32	2	0	2	2	-2	0	0	0
Dennis Hextall	LW	15	1	1	2	49	-5	0	0	0
Tony Cassolato	RW	9	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	0
Wayne Stephenson	G	56	0	2	2	20	0	0	0	0
Brent Tremblay	D	9	1	0	1	6	1	0	0	0
Rollie Boutin	G	18	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
Gary Rissling	LW	11	0	1	1	49	-6	0	0	0
Greg Theberge	D	12	0	1	1	0	-3	0	0	0
Steve Clippingdale	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bob Girard	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gary Inness	G	14	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Claude Noel	C	7	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Harvie Pocza	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Wayne Stephenson	3146	56	18	24	10	187	3.57	0
Rollie Boutin	927	18	7	7	1	54	3.50	0
Gary Inness	727	14	2	9	2	44	3.63	0
Team:	4800	80	27	40	13	285	3.56	0

[2]

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;

Awards and records

Transactions

Roster

Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	4	Mike Gartner (RW)	Canada	Cincinnati Stingers (WHA)
2	24	Errol Rausse (LW)	Canada	Seattle Breakers (WHL)
4	67	Harvie Pocza (LW)	Canada	Billings Bighorns (WHL)
5	88	Tim Tookey (C)	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
6	109	Greg Theberge (D)	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)

Farm teams

See also

• 1979–80 NHL season

References

1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
2. "1979-80 Washington Capitals Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.

External links

• "1979–80 Washington Capitals Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-07.