1988–89 Washington Capitals season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1988–89
Year:	1988
Team:	Washington Capitals
Conferencerank:	2nd
Divisionrank:	1st
Record:	41–29–10
Homerecord:	25–12–3
Roadrecord:	16–17–7
Goalsfor:	305
Goalsagainst:	259
Goalsleader:	Geoff Courtnall (42)
Assistsleader:	Scott Stevens (61)
Pointsleader:	Mike Ridley (89)
Plusminusleader:	Kevin Hatcher (+19)
Pimleader:	Scott Stevens (225)
Winsleader:	Pete Peeters (20)
Gaaleader:	Pete Peeters (2.85)
Divisionwin:	Yes

The 1988–89 Washington Capitals season saw the team became the first team other than the Philadelphia Flyers or the New York Islanders to finish in first place in the Patrick Division with a 41–29–10 record for 92 points. However, they lost their first-round playoff match-up to the Philadelphia Flyers, four games to two. This was the first time the Capitals won their division in the regular season and did not do so again until 2000.

Regular season

The Capitals tied the St. Louis Blues for most shutouts in the league, with 6.^[1]

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 7, 1988	4–6	Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	0–1–0
2	W	October 8, 1988	6–2	Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	1–1–0
3	L	October 11, 1988	7–8	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	1–2–0
4	L	October 14, 1988	1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)	1–3–0
5	W	October 15, 1988	8–5	New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	2–3–0
6	L	October 19, 1988	1–5	@ New York Rangers (1988–89)	2–4–0
7	L	October 21, 1988	1–4	New York Rangers (1988–89)	2–5–0
8	L	October 23, 1988	2–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)	2–6–0
9	W	October 25, 1988	4–3 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)	3–6–0
10	T	October 28, 1988	2–2 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1988–89)	3–6–1
11	L	October 29, 1988	3–4 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)	3–7–1
12	T	November 1, 1988	3–3 OT	@ Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)	3–7–2
13	W	November 4, 1988	4–2	New York Islanders (1988–89)	4–7–2
14	L	November 5, 1988	3–4 OT	@ New York Islanders (1988–89)	4–8–2
15	W	November 10, 1988	4–1	Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	5–8–2
16	L	November 12, 1988	3–6	New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	5–9–2
17	W	November 15, 1988	4–2	Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)	6–9–2
18	W	November 18, 1988	3–2	Hartford Whalers (1988–89)	7–9–2
19	W	November 19, 1988	3–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	8–9–2
20	W	November 22, 1988	4–2	@ New York Islanders (1988–89)	9–9–2
21	W	November 23, 1988	7–6	New York Islanders (1988–89)	10–9–2
22	L	November 25, 1988	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	10–10–2
23	W	November 27, 1988	4–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)	11–10–2
24	W	November 29, 1988	4–3	St. Louis Blues (1988–89)	12–10–2
25	L	November 30, 1988	4–6	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	12–11–2
26	T	December 3, 1988	1–1 OT	Boston Bruins (1988–89)	12–11–3
27	W	December 6, 1988	4–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	13–11–3
28	L	December 7, 1988	1–5	@ New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	13–12–3
29	T	December 10, 1988	0–0 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	13–12–4
30	W	December 11, 1988	6–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	14–12–4
31	W	December 13, 1988	4–1	@ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	15–12–4
32	L	December 15, 1988	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	15–13–4
33	W	December 17, 1988	6–3	Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)	16–13–4
34	L	December 19, 1988	1–3	@ New York Rangers (1988–89)	16–14–4
35	W	December 21, 1988	4–3	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)	17–14–4
36	T	December 23, 1988	2–2 OT	New York Rangers (1988–89)	17–14–5
37	W	December 27, 1988	4–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	18–14–5
38	W	December 30, 1988	5–3	Buffalo Sabres (1988–89)	19–14–5
39	L	December 31, 1988	4–6	@ New York Islanders (1988–89)	19–15–5
40	W	January 2, 1989	8–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	20–15–5
41	T	January 4, 1989	3–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1988–89)	20–15–6
42	W	January 6, 1989	3–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)	21–15–6
43	W	January 7, 1989	6–3	Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)	22–15–6
44	T	January 10, 1989	4–4 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1988–89)	22–15–7
45	W	January 11, 1989	3–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1988–89)	23–15–7
46	W	January 13, 1989	5–3	Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)	24–15–7
47	L	January 15, 1989	3–4	Boston Bruins (1988–89)	24–16–7
48	L	January 20, 1989	5–6 OT	New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	24–17–7
49	L	January 22, 1989	3–4	Detroit Red Wings (1988–89)	24–18–7
50	T	January 24, 1989	4–4 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)	24–18–8
51	W	January 26, 1989	1–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	25–18–8
52	T	January 28, 1989	4–4 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1988–89)	25–18–9
53	T	January 30, 1989	4–4 OT	@ Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)	25–18–10
54	W	February 1, 1989	4–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1988–89)	26–18–10
55	W	February 3, 1989	1–0	Hartford Whalers (1988–89)	27–18–10
56	L	February 5, 1989	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	27–19–10
57	L	February 10, 1989	6–7 OT	Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)	27–20–10
58	L	February 11, 1989	1–2	Calgary Flames (1988–89)	27–21–10
59	W	February 14, 1989	5–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1988–89)	28–21–10
60	L	February 15, 1989	4–7	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1988–89)	28–22–10
61	W	February 17, 1989	8–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1988–89)	29–22–10
62	L	February 19, 1989	2–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)	29–23–10
63	L	February 20, 1989	2–6	@ Calgary Flames (1988–89)	29–24–10
64	W	February 22, 1989	7–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1988–89)	30–24–10
65	L	February 28, 1989	3–4	Minnesota North Stars (1988–89)	30–25–10
66	W	March 3, 1989	4–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	31–25–10
67	W	March 5, 1989	3–0	Vancouver Canucks (1988–89)	32–25–10
68	L	March 8, 1989	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	32–26–10
69	W	March 9, 1989	7–2	@ Boston Bruins (1988–89)	33–26–10
70	W	March 11, 1989	4–2	New York Rangers (1988–89)	34–26–10
71	W	March 14, 1989	6–3	Winnipeg Jets (1988–89)	35–26–10
72	W	March 17, 1989	4–1	Montreal Canadiens (1988–89)	36–26–10
73	W	March 18, 1989	8–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1988–89)	37–26–10
74	W	March 22, 1989	5–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1988–89)	38–26–10
75	W	March 24, 1989	6–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	39–26–10
76	W	March 26, 1989	3–2	New York Islanders (1988–89)	40–26–10
77	L	March 28, 1989	4–5	@ New York Islanders (1988–89)	40–27–10
78	L	March 30, 1989	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1988–89)	40–28–10
79	W	April 1, 1989	6–4	New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	41–28–10
80	L	April 2, 1989	4–7	@ New Jersey Devils (1988–89)	41–29–10

Playoffs

Round 1: (P1) Washington Capitals vs. (P4) Philadelphia Flyers

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	80	41	48	89	49	17	16	0	9
	LW	79	42	38	80	112	11	16	0	6
	RW	72	18	51	69	18	13	5	4	6
	D	80	7	61	68	225	1	6	0	3
	RW	80	34	31	65	12	2	16	1	1
	C	80	20	37	57	219	-3	9	0	3
	RW	56	26	29	55	71	8	6	0	1
	LW	78	19	21	40	45	13	2	1	3
	D	62	13	27	40	101	19	3	0	2
	D	65	7	29	36	70	-5	3	0	0
	RW	74	11	19	30	94	-4	4	0	0
	C	52	8	19	27	30	9	1	0	1
	D	76	2	19	21	65	12	0	0	0
	RW	75	5	13	18	65	-2	0	1	0
	RW	63	7	10	17	123	-4	0	0	0
	RW	11	12	3	15	12	10	3	0	3
	RW	48	8	7	15	62	7	0	0	1
	D	61	3	11	14	43	1	1	0	1
	RW	18	6	3	9	4	-4	3	0	1
	D	12	1	7	8	4	1	1	0	0
	D	21	0	8	8	8	7	0	0	0
	D	72	3	4	7	179	-1	0	0	0
	C	16	2	5	7	4	0	1	0	0
	LW	35	4	2	6	12	-5	0	0	0
	LW	33	3	2	5	62	0	0	0	0
	D	8	0	3	3	4	7	0	0	0
	RW	14	2	0	2	53	-3	0	0	0
	D	13	0	2	2	36	2	0	0	0
	D	2	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0
	D	3	0	1	1	10	0	0	0	0
	G	42	0	1	1	16	0	0	0	0
	G	35	0	1	1	8	0	0	0	0
	G	11	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	1854	33	20	7	3	88	2.85	4	790	702	.889
	2428	42	16	18	7	141	3.48	1	1145	1004	.877
	578	11	5	4	0	28	2.91	1	269	241	.896
Team:	4860	80	41	29	10	257	3.17	6	2204	1947	.883

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
	LW	6	2	5	7	12	1	0	0
	RW	6	3	3	6	12	3	0	0
	RW	4	2	3	5	6	1	0	0
	D	6	1	4	5	20	1	0	0
	D	6	1	4	5	11	0	0	0
	C	6	0	5	5	2	0	0	0
	C	6	3	1	4	10	0	1	0
	C	6	0	4	4	29	0	0	0
	D	6	1	2	3	0	1	0	0
	D	6	2	0	2	4	0	0	0
	RW	6	1	1	2	0	1	0	0
	RW	6	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
	RW	6	1	0	1	8	0	0	1
	RW	6	1	0	1	12	1	0	0
	LW	6	1	0	1	2	0	0	1
	D	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	6	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
	G	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	D	6	0	0	0	19	0	0	0
	C	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	359	6	2	4	24	4.01	0	164	140	.854
Team:	359	6	2	4	24	4.01	0	164	140	.854

^[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; SA=Shots against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	15	Reggie Savage		Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
2	36	Tim Taylor		London Knights (OHL)
2	41	Wade Bartley		Dauphin Kings (MJHL)
3	57	Duane Derksen		Winkler Flyers (MJHL)
4	78	Rob Krauss		Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
6	120	Dmitri Khristich		Sokil Kyiv (USSR)
7	141	Keith Jones		Niagara Falls Canucks (NDJBHL)
7	144	Brad Schlegel		London Knights (WHL)
8	162	Todd Hilditch		Penticton Knights (BCJHL)
9	183	Petr Pavlas		Dukla Trencin (Czechoslovakia)
10	192	Mark Sorensen		University of Michigan (CCHA)
10	204	Claudio Scremin		University of Maine (Hockey East)
11	225	Chris Venkus		Western Michigan University (CCHA)
12	246	Ron Pascucci		Belmont Hill School (USHS-MA)
S	20	Harry Mews		Northeastern University (Hockey East)

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1988-89 NHL Schedule and Results.
2. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-01 . 1988-89 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.