2008–09 Washington Capitals season

2008–09 Washington Capitals
Southeast Division Champions
2008–09 record 50-24-8
Home record 29-9-3
Road record 21–15–5
Goals for 272
Goals against 245
Team information
General Manager George McPhee
Coach Bruce Boudreau
Captain Chris Clark
Alternate captains Sergei Fedorov
Alexander Ovechkin
Arena Verizon Center
Average attendance 17,943 (98%)
Team leaders
Goals Alexander Ovechkin (56)
Assists Nicklas Backstrom (66)
Points Alexander Ovechkin (110)
Penalties in minutes Donald Brashear (121)
Plus/minus Alexander Semin (+25)
Wins Jose Theodore (32)
Goals against average Semyon Varlamov (2.37)
<2007–08 2009–10>

The 2008–09 Washington Capitals season is the team's 35th in the National Hockey League. The Capitals finished the regular season with a record of 50-24-8 and a team record 108 points, and they won their second consecutive Southeast Division championship. They defeated the New York Rangers in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs 4 games to 3, overcoming a 3-1 deficit. The Capitals were then defeated by the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference semi-finals in seven games.

Pre-season

Schedule/Results from capitals.nhl.com

Opponent Result Score
@ Carolina Hurricanes W 4-1
vs Carolina Hurricanes W 5-2
@ Boston Bruins W 4-3
@ New Jersey Devils W 3-2
@ Philadelphia Flyers L 1-2
vs Philadelphia Flyers W 5-1
vs Boston Bruins OTL 4-5

Regular season

Division standings

Southeast Division
No. CR GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 2 y-Washington Capitals 82 50 24 8 272 245 108
2 6 Carolina Hurricanes 82 45 30 7 239 226 97
3 9 Florida Panthers 82 41 30 11 234 231 93
4 13 Atlanta Thrashers 82 35 41 6 257 280 76
5 14 Tampa Bay Lightning 82 24 40 18 210 279 66

Conference standings

Eastern Conference
R Div GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 z-Boston Bruins NE 82 53 19 10 274 196 116
2 y-Washington Capitals SE 82 50 24 8 272 245 108
3 y-New Jersey Devils AT 82 51 27 4 244 209 106
4 Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 45 28 9 264 239 99
5 Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 44 27 11 264 238 99
6 Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 45 30 7 239 226 97
7 New York Rangers AT 82 43 30 9 210 218 95
8 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 41 30 11 249 247 93
8.5
9 Florida Panthers SE 82 41 30 11 234 231 93
10 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 41 32 9 250 234 91
11 Ottawa Senators NE 82 36 35 11 217 237 83
12 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 34 35 13 250 293 81
13 Atlanta Thrashers SE 82 35 41 6 257 280 76
14 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 24 40 18 210 279 66
15 New York Islanders AT 82 26 47 9 201 279 61

bold - qualified for playoffs, y - division winner, z - placed first in conference (and division)

AT - Atlantic Division, NE - Northeast Division, SE - Southeast Division

Game log

Full schedule, results, and recaps at capitals.nhl.com

2008–09 Game log
Schedule

Playoffs

The Washington Capitals won the Southeast Division and qualified for the playoffs for the second straight season. The Capitals entered the 2009 NHL Playoffs as the second seed and defeated the New York Rangers in the 1st round 4 games to 3. The Capitals Lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2nd round 4 games to 3.

Key:      Win      Loss      Clinch Playoff Series      Eliminated from playoffs

2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Player stats

Skaters

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals 

Regular season
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Ovechkin, AlexAlex Ovechkin 79 56 54 110 +8 72
Backstrom, NicklasNicklas Backstrom 82 22 66 88 +16 46
Semin, AlexanderAlexander Semin 62 34 45 79 +25 77
Green, MikeMike Green 68 31 42 73 +24 68
Laich, BrooksBrooks Laich 82 23 30 53 -1 31
Kozlov, ViktorViktor Kozlov 67 13 28 41 -9 16
Fleischmann, TomasTomas Fleischmann 73 19 18 37 -3 20
Fedorov, SergeiSergei Fedorov 52 11 22 33 +4 50
Nylander, MichaelMichael Nylander 72 9 24 33 0 32
Fehr, EricEric Fehr 61 12 13 25 +8 22
Steckel, DaveDave Steckel 76 8 11 19 +2 34
Gordon, BoydBoyd Gordon 63 5 9 14 -4 16
Jurcina, MilanMilan Jurcina 79 3 11 14 +1 68
Poti, TomTom Poti 52 3 10 13 +3 28
Morrisonn, ShaoneShaone Morrisonn 72 3 10 13 +4 77
Schultz, JeffJeff Schultz 64 1 11 12 +13 21
Bradley, MattMatt Bradley 81 5 6 11 -1 59
Clark, ChrisChris Clark 32 1 5 6 -3 32
Aucoin, KeithKeith Aucoin 12 2 4 6 +5 4
Sloan, TylerTyler Sloan 26 1 4 5 +4 14
Alzner, KarlKarl Alzner 30 1 4 5 -1 2
Brashear, DonaldDonald Brashear 63 1 3 4 -6 121
Erskine, JohnJohn Erskine 52 0 4 4 +1 63
Lepisto, SamiSami Lepisto 7 0 4 4 -3 6
Helmer, BryanBryan Helmer 12 0 3 3 -1 2
Pothier, BrianBrian Pothier 9 1 2 3 0 4
Giroux, AlexandreAlexandre Giroux 12 1 1 2 +4 10
Bourque, ChrisChris Bourque 8 1 0 1 0 0
Laing, QuintinQuintin Laing 1 0 0 0 +1 0
Mink, GrahamGraham Mink 2 0 0 0 0 0
Kronwall, StaffanStaffan Kronwall 3 0 0 0 -1 0
Gordon, AndrewAndrew Gordon 1 0 0 0 0 0
Beagle, JayJay Beagle 3 0 0 0 -3 2
Osala, OskarOskar Osala 2 0 0 0 -1 0
Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Ovechkin, AlexAlex Ovechkin 14 11 10 21 +10 8
Backstrom, NicklasNicklas Backstrom 14 3 12 15 +3 8
Semin, AlexanderAlexander Semin 14 5 9 14 -1 16
Green, MikeMike Green 14 1 8 9 -5 12
Fedorov, SergeiSergei Fedorov 14 1 7 8 +1 12
Poti, TomTom Poti 14 2 5 7 +8 4
Laich, BrooksBrooks Laich 14 3 4 7 0 10
Bradley, MattMatt Bradley 14 2 4 6 +3 0
Kozlov, ViktorViktor Kozlov 14 4 2 6 +5 6
Steckel, DaveDave Steckel 14 3 2 5 0 4
Fleischmann, TomasTomas Fleischmann 14 3 1 4 0 4
Gordon, BoydBoyd Gordon 14 0 3 3 -1 4
Pothier, BrianBrian Pothier 13 0 2 2 +1 8
Jurcina, MilanMilan Jurcina 14 2 0 2 +6 12
Clark, ChrisChris Clark 8 1 0 1 -2 8
Erskine, JohnJohn Erskine 12 0 1 1 +1 16
Morrisonn, ShaoneShaone Morrisonn 14 0 1 1 +1 8
Sloan, TylerTyler Sloan 2 0 1 1 +1 0
Brashear, DonaldDonald Brashear 4 0 0 0 0 18
Nylander, MichaelMichael Nylander 3 0 0 0 -1 2
Fehr, EricEric Fehr 9 0 0 0 -3 0
Schultz, JeffJeff Schultz 1 0 0 0 -1 0
Beagle, JayJay Beagle 4 0 0 0 -1 0

Goaltenders

Note:  Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Regular season
Player GP Min W L OT GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO
Theodore, JoseJose Theodore 57 3286 32 17 5 157 2.87 1572 1415 .900 2
Johnson, BrentBrent Johnson 21 1131 12 6 2 53 2.81 579 526 .908 0
Varlamov, SemyonSemyon Varlamov 6 328 4 0 1 13 2.37 159 146 .918 0
Neuvirth, MichalMichal Neuvirth 5 219 2 1 0 11 3.00 102 91 .892 0
Playoffs
Player GP Min W L GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO
Varlamov, SemyonSemyon Varlamov 13 758 7 6 32 2.53 389 357 .918 2
Theodore, JoseJose Theodore 2 96 0 1 6 3.72 33 27 .818 0

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Capitals. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Awards and records

Trophies and awards

Stars

Records

Milestones

Regular season
Player Milestone Reached
Brent Johnson 100th NHL win October 13, 2008
Sergei Fedorov 1200th NHL game October 16, 2008
Milan Jurcina 200th NHL game October 16, 2008
Tyler Sloan 1st NHL game October 21, 2008
Sergei Fedorov 474th NHL goal (most by a Russian-born player) October 25, 2008
Alexander Semin 200th NHL game October 25, 2008
Tyler Sloan 1st NHL goal October 25, 2008
Viktor Kozlov 500th NHL point November 14, 2008
Nicklas Backstrom 100th NHL game November 19, 2008
Karl Alzner 1st NHL game November 26, 2008
Alex Ovechkin 200th NHL goal February 5, 2009
Mike Green 8-game goal-scoring streak by defenseman (NHL record) February 14, 2009

Transactions

Trades

June 20, 2008
To Washington Capitals
21st pick in 2008
To New Jersey Devils
23rd pick in 2008
2nd round pick in 2008
June 20, 2008
To Washington Capitals
27th pick in 2008
To Philadelphia Flyers
Steve Eminger
3rd round pick in 2008

Free agents

Player Former team Contract terms
Jose Theodore, G Colorado Avalanche $9 million, 2 years[2]
Player New team
Cristobal Huet[3], G Chicago Blackhawks
Matt Cooke[4], LW Pittsburgh Penguins
Olaf Kolzig, G Tampa Bay Lightning

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers
Staffan Kronwall, D Toronto Maple Leafs February 6, 2009

Draft picks

Washington 's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft[5] in OttawaOntario.

Round # Player Position Nationality College/junior/club team (league)
1 21 (from New Jersey) Anton Gustafsson (C)  Sweden Frölunda HC (Sweden Jr.)
1 27 (from Philadelphia) John Carlson (D)  United States Indiana Ice (USHL)
2 57 (from San Jose) Eric Mestery (D)  Canada Tri-City Americans (WHL)
2 58 (from Philadelphia) Dmitri Kugryshev (RW)  Russia CSKA Moscow (RSL)
4 93 (from Los Angeles) Braden Holtby (G)  Canada Saskatoon Blades (Western Hockey League)
5 144 Joel Broda (C)  Canada Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
6 174 Greg Burke (LW)  United States New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (EJHL)
7 204 Stefan Della Rovere (LW)  Canada Barrie Colts (OHL)

Roster

Updated April 29, 2009.[6]Roster

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
19 Backstrom, NicklasNicklas Backstrom C L 24 2006 Gävle, Sweden
10 Bradley, MattMatt Bradley RW R 33 2005 Stittsville, Ontario
87 Brashear, DonaldDonald Brashear LW L 40 2006 Bedford, Indiana
17 Clark, ChrisChris Clark (C) RW R 36 2005 South Windsor, Connecticut
4 Erskine, JohnJohn Erskine D L 31 2006 Kingston, Ontario
91 Fedorov, SergeiSergei Fedorov (A) C L 42 2008 Pskov, U.S.S.R.
16 Fehr, EricEric Fehr RW R 26 2003 Winkler, Manitoba
14 Fleischmann, TomasTomas Fleischmann LW L 27 2004 Kopřivnice, Czechoslovakia
15 Gordon, BoydBoyd Gordon C R 28 2002 Unity, Saskatchewan
52 Green, MikeMike Green D R 26 2004 Calgary, Alberta
1 Johnson, BrentBrent Johnson  G L 34 2005 Farmington, Michigan
23 Jurcina, MilanMilan Jurcina D L 28 2007 Liptovský Mikuláš, Czechoslovakia
25 Kozlov, ViktorViktor Kozlov RW R 37 2007 Togliatti, U.S.S.R.
21 Laich, BrooksBrooks Laich C L 28 2004 Wawota, Saskatchewan
26 Morrisonn, ShaoneShaone Morrisonn D L 29 2004 Vancouver, British Columbia
92 Nylander, MichaelMichael Nylander C L 39 2007 Stockholm, Sweden
8 Ovechkin, AlexanderAlexander Ovechkin (A) LW R 26 2004 Moscow, U.S.S.R.
2 Pothier, BrianBrian Pothier D R 34 2006 New Bedford, Massachusetts
3 Poti, TomTom Poti D L 34 2007 Worcester, Massachusetts
55 Schultz, JeffJeff Schultz D L 26 2004 Calgary, Alberta
28 Semin, AlexanderAlexander Semin LW R 28 2002 Krasnoyarsk, U.S.S.R.
39 Steckel, DaveDave Steckel C L 29 2005 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
60 Theodore, JoseJose Theodore G R 35 2008 Laval, Quebec
40 Varlamov, SemyonSemyon Varlamov G L 23 2006 Kuybyshev, U.S.S.R.

See also

Farm teams

Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL)

References