2019–20 Washington Capitals season

2019–20 Washington Capitals
Metropolitan Division Champions
Division	1st Metropolitan
Conference	3rd Eastern
2019–20 record	41–20–8
Home record	18–10–5
Road record	23–10–3
Goals for	240
Goals against	215
Team information
General Manager	Brian MacLellan
Coach	Todd Reirden
Captain	Alexander Ovechkin
Alternate captains	Nicklas Backstrom John Carlson
Arena	Capital One Arena
Minor league affiliations	Hershey Bears (AHL) South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexander Ovechkin (48)
Assists	John Carlson (60)
Points	John Carlson (75)
Penalties in minutes	Tom Wilson (93)
Plus/minus	Michal Kempny (+19)
Wins	Braden Holtby (25)
Goals against average	Ilya Samsonov (2.55)
<2018–19	2020–21>

The 2019–20 Washington Capitals season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. The Capitals entered the season as the 4-time defending Metropolitan Division champions. They would go on to win the division for the fifth year in a row.

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Capitals advanced to the playoffs, but were eliminated by the New York Islanders in the first round in five games.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	90
2	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	89
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	86
4	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	81
5	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	81
6	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	80
7	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	79
8	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	68

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	100	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	92
3	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	90
4	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	89
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	86	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round
6	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	81
7	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	80
8	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	81
9	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	81
10	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	78
11	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	79
12	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	71
13	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	68
14	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	68
15	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	62
16	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	39

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 17, 2019.

2019 preseason game log: 5–1–0 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 2–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record 1 September 16 Chicago 4–3 OT 1–0–0 2 September 18 St. Louis 3–2 2–0–0 3 September 21 Carolina 3–2 3–0–0 4 September 25 @ Chicago 6–0 4–0–0 5 September 27 @ St. Louis 3–4 4–1–0 6 September 29 @ Carolina 4–3 5–1–0

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.

2019–20 game log
October: 9–2–3, 21 points (Home: 2–1–2; Road: 7–1–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 2 @ St. Louis 3–2 OT Holtby Enterprise Center 18,096 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 4 @ NY Islanders 2–1 Samsonov Nassau Coliseum 13,917 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 5 Carolina 2–3 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,506 2–0–1 5 Recap 4 October 8 Dallas 3–4 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 2–0–2 6 Recap 5 October 10 @ Nashville 5–6 Holtby Bridgestone Arena 17,386 2–1–2 6 Recap 6 October 12 @ Dallas 4–1 Samsonov American Airlines Center 18,532 3–1–2 8 Recap 7 October 14 Colorado 3–6 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 3–2–2 8 Recap 8 October 16 Toronto 4–3 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 4–2–2 10 Recap 9 October 18 NY Rangers 5–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 5–2–2 12 Recap 10 October 20 @ Chicago 5–3 Holtby United Center 21,187 6–2–2 14 Recap 11 October 22 @ Calgary 5–3 Holtby Scotiabank Saddledome 18,002 7–2–2 16 Recap 12 October 24 @ Edmonton 3–4 OT Holtby Rogers Place 17,144 7–2–3 17 Recap 13 October 25 @ Vancouver 6–5 SO Samsonov Rogers Arena 18,871 8–2–3 19 Recap 14 October 29 @ Toronto 4–3 OT Holtby Scotiabank Arena 19,258 9–2–3 21 Recap
November: 10–2–2, 22 points (Home: 6–1–2; Road: 4–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 15 November 1 Buffalo 6–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 10–2–3 23 Recap 16 November 3 Calgary 4–2 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 11–2–3 25 Recap 17 November 7 @ Florida 5–4 OT Holtby BB&T Center 14,085 12–2–3 27 Recap 18 November 9 Vegas 5–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 13–2–3 29 Recap 19 November 11 Arizona 3–4 SO Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 13–2–4 30 Recap 20 November 13 @ Philadelphia 2–1 SO Holtby Wells Fargo Center 18,159 14–2–4 32 Recap 21 November 15 Montreal 2–5 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 14–3–4 32 Recap 22 November 16 @ Boston 3–2 SO Holtby TD Garden 17,850 15–3–4 34 Recap 23 November 18 Anaheim 5–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 16–3–4 36 Recap 24 November 20 @ NY Rangers 1–4 Holtby Madison Square Garden 17,239 16–4–4 36 Recap 25 November 23 Vancouver 1–2 SO Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 16–4–5 37 Recap 26 November 27 Florida 4–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 17–4–5 39 Recap 27 November 29 Tampa Bay 4–3 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 18–4–5 41 Recap 28 November 30 @ Detroit 5–2 Samsonov Little Caesars Arena 19,190 19–4–5 43 Recap
December: 8–5–0, 16 points (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 5–3–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 29 December 3 @ San Jose 5–2 Holtby SAP Center 17,562 20–4–5 45 Recap 30 December 4 @ Los Angeles 3–1 Samsonov Staples Center 16,102 21–4–5 47 Recap 31 December 6 @ Anaheim 3–2 Holtby Honda Center 15,945 22–4–5 49 Recap 32 December 9 Columbus 2–5 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 22–5–5 49 Recap 33 December 11 Boston 3–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 23–5–5 51 Recap 34 December 14 @ Tampa Bay 5–2 Samsonov Amalie Arena 19,092 24–5–5 53 Recap 35 December 16 @ Columbus 0–3 Holtby Nationwide Arena 16,602 24–6–5 53 Recap 36 December 20 @ New Jersey 6–3 Samsonov Prudential Center 15,021 25–6–5 55 Recap 37 December 21 Tampa Bay 3–1 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 26–6–5 57 Recap 38 December 23 @ Boston 3–7 Holtby TD Garden 17,850 26–7–5 57 Recap 39 December 27 Columbus 2–1 OT Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 27–7–5 59 Recap 40 December 28 @ Carolina 4–6 Holtby PNC Arena 18,680 27–8–5 59 Recap 41 December 31 NY Islanders 3–4 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 27–9–5 59 Recap
January: 8–3–0, 16 points (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 4–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 42 January 3 @ Carolina 4–3 Samsonov PNC Arena 18,680 28–9–5 61 Recap 43 January 5 San Jose 5–4 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 29–9–5 63 Recap 44 January 7 Ottawa 6–1 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 30–9–5 65 Recap 45 January 8 @ Philadelphia 2–3 Holtby Wells Fargo Center 18,595 30–10–5 65 Recap 46 January 11 New Jersey 1–5 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 30–11–5 65 Recap 47 January 13 Carolina 2–0 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 31–11–5 67 Recap 48 January 16 New Jersey 5–2 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 32–11–5 69 Recap 49 January 18 @ NY Islanders 6–4 Samsonov Nassau Coliseum 13,917 33–11–5 71 Recap 50 January 27 @ Montreal 4–2 Holtby Bell Centre 21,302 34–11–5 73 Recap 51 January 29 Nashville 4–5 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 34–12–5 73 Recap 52 January 31 @ Ottawa 5–3 Samsonov Canadian Tire Centre 14,279 35–12–5 75 Recap
February: 4–7–1, 9 points (Home: 3–3–1; Road: 1–4–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 53 February 2 Pittsburgh 3–4 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 35–13–5 75 Recap 54 February 4 Los Angeles 4–2 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 36–13–5 77 Recap 55 February 8 Philadelphia 2–7 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 36–14–5 77 Recap 56 February 10 NY Islanders 3–5 Samsonov Capital One Arena 18,573 36–15–5 77 Recap 57 February 13 @ Colorado 3–2 Holtby Pepsi Center 18,146 37–15–5 79 Recap 58 February 15 @ Arizona 1–3 Holtby Gila River Arena 17,139 37–16–5 79 Recap 59 February 17 @ Vegas 2–3 Holtby T-Mobile Arena 18,399 37–17–5 79 Recap 60 February 20 Montreal 3–4 OT Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 37–17–6 80 Recap 61 February 22 @ New Jersey 2–3 Samsonov Prudential Center 16,514 37–18–6 80 Recap 62 February 23 Pittsburgh 5–3 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 38–18–6 82 Recap 63 February 25 Winnipeg 4–3 SO Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 39–18–6 84 Recap 64 February 27 @ Winnipeg 0–3 Samsonov Bell MTS Place 15,325 39–19–6 84 Recap
March: 2–1–2, 6 points (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 2–0–2) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 65 March 1 @ Minnesota 4–3 Holtby Xcel Energy Center 17,388 40–19–6 86 Recap 66 March 4 Philadelphia 2–5 Holtby Capital One Arena 18,573 40–20–6 86 Recap 67 March 5 @ NY Rangers 5–6 OT Samsonov Madison Square Garden 17,277 40–20–7 87 Recap 68 March 7 @ Pittsburgh 5–2 Holtby PPG Paints Arena 18,656 41–20–7 89 Recap 69 March 9 @ Buffalo 2–3 SO Holtby KeyBank Center 16,539 41–20–8 90 Recap
Cancelled games Game Date Opponent Location 70 March 12 Detroit Capital One Arena 71 March 14 Chicago Capital One Arena 72 March 16 Edmonton Capital One Arena 73 March 19 @ Columbus Nationwide Arena 74 March 20 Ottawa Capital One Arena 75 March 22 @ Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 76 March 24 St. Louis Capital One Arena 77 March 26 NY Rangers Capital One Arena 78 March 28 @ Detroit Little Caesars Arena 79 March 30 @ Buffalo KeyBank Center 80 March 31 Toronto Capital One Arena 81 April 2 Minnesota Capital One Arena 82 April 4 @ Florida BB&T Center
Win (2 Points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Capitals played in a round-robin tournament to determine their seed for the playoffs. Washington finished with a 1–1–1 record to clinch the third seed for the playoffs.

The Capitals were defeated by the New York Islanders in the first round in five games.

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Eastern Conference Seeding Round-robin Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Record Points Recap 1 August 3 @ Tampa Bay 2–3 SO Holtby Scotiabank Arena 0–0–1 1 Recap 2 August 6 @ Philadelphia 1–3 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 0–1–1 1 Recap 3 August 9 Boston 2–1 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 1–1–1 3 Recap
Eastern Conference First Round vs. (6) New York Islanders: New York won 4–1 Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Series Recap 1 August 12 NY Islanders 2–4 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 0–1 Recap 2 August 14 NY Islanders 2–5 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 0–2 Recap 3 August 16 @ NY Islanders 1–2 OT Holtby Scotiabank Arena 0–3 Recap 4 August 18 @ NY Islanders 3–2 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 1–3 Recap 5 August 20 NY Islanders 0–4 Holtby Scotiabank Arena 1–4 Recap
Win (2 Points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
John Carlson	69	15	60	75	12	26
Alexander Ovechkin	68	48	19	67	−12	30
Nicklas Backstrom	61	12	42	54	−1	14
Jakub Vrana	69	25	27	52	3	18
Evgeny Kuznetsov	63	19	33	52	−2	40
T. J. Oshie	69	26	23	49	4	26
Tom Wilson	68	21	23	44	−3	93
Lars Eller	69	16	23	39	3	48
Dmitry Orlov	69	4	23	27	5	36
Carl Hagelin	58	8	17	25	12	16
Richard Panik	59	9	13	22	16	36
Michal Kempny	58	3	15	18	19	22
Garnet Hathaway	66	9	7	16	6	79
Nic Dowd	56	7	8	15	11	28
Radko Gudas	63	2	13	15	15	40
Brendan Leipsic	61	3	8	11	3	13
Travis Boyd	24	3	7	10	9	2
Jonas Siegenthaler	64	2	7	9	11	43
Nick Jensen	68	0	8	8	1	13
Chandler Stephenson‡	24	3	1	4	5	6
Ilya Kovalchuk†	7	1	3	4	0	4
Martin Fehervary	6	0	1	1	−2	6
Michael Sgarbossa	2	0	0	0	0	0
Brenden Dillon†	10	0	0	0	−2	21
Beck Malenstyn	3	0	0	0	−1	0
Tyler Lewington	6	0	0	0	−2	17
Christian Djoos‡	2	0	0	0	1	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
John Carlson	5	0	6	6	−11	2
Alexander Ovechkin	8	4	1	5	−1	2
Evgeny Kuznetsov	8	3	2	5	−4	4
T. J. Oshie	8	3	0	3	−7	13
Tom Wilson	8	1	2	3	−5	23
Dmitry Orlov	8	0	3	3	−1	4
Radko Gudas	5	0	2	2	−1	2
Richard Panik	8	1	0	1	−2	6
Travis Boyd	4	1	0	1	0	0
Nicklas Backstrom	5	0	1	1	−2	0
Lars Eller	5	0	1	1	−5	2
Brenden Dillon	8	0	1	1	0	8
Ilya Kovalchuk	8	0	1	1	0	2
Carl Hagelin	8	0	1	1	−4	2
Michal Kempny	5	0	1	1	−2	4
Jakub Vrana	8	0	0	0	−7	2
Nick Jensen	8	0	0	0	−1	0
Nic Dowd	8	0	0	0	−4	4
Garnet Hathaway	8	0	0	0	−3	12
Jonas Siegenthaler	7	0	0	0	−7	0
Martin Fehervary	2	0	0	0	0	0
Brian Pinho	2	0	0	0	−1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	48	47	2,743:10	25	14	6	142	3.11	1,385	.897	0	0	1	4
Ilya Samsonov	26	22	1,411:02	16	6	2	60	2.55	689	.913	1	0	0	2

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	8	8	482:36	2	5	1	20	2.49	213	.906	0	0	1	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.

Transactions

The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22)	To New Jersey Devils 4th-round pick in 2019 BUF's 5th-round pick in 2019	To Washington Capitals SJS's 3rd-round pick in 2019
June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22)	To San Jose Sharks 7th-round pick in 2019 7th-round pick in 2020	To Washington Capitals 5th-round pick in 2019
June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)	To Colorado Avalanche Andre Burakovsky	To Washington Capitals Scott Kosmachuk 2nd-round pick in 2020 ARI's 3rd-round pick in 2020
December 2, 2019 (2019-12-02)	To Vegas Golden Knights Chandler Stephenson	To Washington Capitals 5th-round pick in 2021
February 18, 2020 (2020-02-18)	To San Jose Sharks 2nd-round pick in 2020 Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2021	To Washington Capitals Brenden Dillon
February 23, 2020 (2020-02-23)	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd-round pick in 2020	To Washington Capitals Ilya Kovalchuk

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Riley Barber	to Montreal Canadiens	1-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Brett Connolly	to Florida Panthers	4-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Garnet Hathaway	from Calgary Flames	4-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Brendan Leipsic	from Los Angeles Kings	1-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Philippe Maillet	from Ontario Reign (AHL)	2-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Aaron Ness	to Arizona Coyotes	2-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Richard Panik	from Arizona Coyotes	4-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Nathan Walker	to St. Louis Blues	1-year
July 2, 2019 (2019-07-02)	Jayson Megna	to Colorado Avalanche	1-year
July 16, 2019 (2019-07-16)	Mathias Bau Hansen	to Dornbirn Bulldogs (EBEL)	1-year
August 17, 2019 (2019-08-17)	Chase Priskie	to Carolina Hurricanes	2-year
August 22, 2019 (2019-08-22)	Dmitrij Jaskin	from/to Dynamo Moscow (KHL)	1-year
August 29, 2019 (2019-08-29)	Mason Mitchell	to Rochester Americans (AHL)	-year
September 4, 2019 (2019-09-04)	Hampus Gustafsson	to Rögle BK (SHL)	1-year
October 28, 2019 (2019-10-28)	Devante Smith-Pelly	to Kunlun Red Star (KHL)	1-year

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)		from/to

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Ref
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)

Retirement

Date	Player	Ref
June 25, 2019 (2019-06-25)	Brooks Orpik

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
June 29, 2019 (2019-06-29)	Michael Sgarbossa	2-year
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	Vitek Vanecek	3-year
July 10, 2019 (2019-07-10)	Aliaksei Protas	3-year
July 11, 2019 (2019-07-11)	Brett Leason	3-year
July 12, 2019 (2019-07-12)	Connor McMichael	3-year
July 13, 2019 (2019-07-13)	Colby Williams	1-year
July 16, 2019 (2019-07-16)	Jakub Vrana	2-year
July 24, 2019 (2019-07-24)	Christian Djoos	1-year
July 27, 2019 (2019-07-27)	Chandler Stephenson	1-year
January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14)	Nicklas Backstrom	5-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Washington Capitals draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	25	Connor McMichael	C	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
2	56	Brett Leason	RW	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
3	911	Aliaksei Protas	C	Belarus	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
5	1532	Martin Has	D	Czech Republic	Tappara U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)

Notes:

1. The San Jose Sharks' third-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a fourth-round pick and Buffalo's fifth-round pick both in 2019 (118th and 129th overall) to New Jersey in exchange for this pick.
2. The San Jose Sharks' fifth-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2019 (211th overall) and 2020 to San Jose in exchange for this pick.