1988–89 Washington Capitals season

1988–89 Washington Capitals
Patrick Division champions
Division1st Patrick
Conference2nd Wales
1988–89 record41–29–10
Home record25–12–3
Road record16–17–7
Goals for305
Goals against259
Team information
General managerDavid Poile
CoachBryan Murray
CaptainRod Langway
ArenaCapital Centre
Team leaders
GoalsGeoff Courtnall (42)
AssistsScott Stevens (61)
PointsMike Ridley (89)
Penalty minutesScott Stevens (225)
Plus/minusKevin Hatcher (+19)
WinsPete Peeters (20)
Goals against averagePete Peeters (2.85)

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]

Final standings

Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Washington Capitals 80 41 29 10 305 259 92
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 40 33 7 347 349 87
New York Rangers 80 37 35 8 310 307 82
Philadelphia Flyers 80 36 36 8 307 285 80
New Jersey Devils 80 27 41 12 281 325 66
New York Islanders 80 28 47 5 265 325 61

[2]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.

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Campbell Conference


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

April 5 Philadelphia Flyers 2–3 Washington Capitals Capital Centre Recap  
Brian Propp (1) – 07:49
Tim Kerr (1) – pp – 11:52 		First period 14:49 – pp – Geoff Courtnall (1)
No scoring Second period 12:24 – Michal Pivonka (1)
13:59 – Lou Franceschetti (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Ron Hextall 33 saves / 36 shots Goalie stats Pete Peeters 27 saves / 29 shots
April 6 Philadelphia Flyers 3–2 Washington Capitals Capital Centre Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 19:59 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (1)
Keith Acton (1) – 07:08
Brian Propp (2) – pp – 11:25
Brian Propp (3) – pp – 19:09 		Third period 02:40 – Geoff Courtnall (2)
Ron Hextall 19 saves / 21 shots Goalie stats Pete Peeters 23 saves / 26 shots
April 8 Washington Capitals 4–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers Spectrum Recap  
Bob Rouse (1) – 08:16 First period 05:19 – pp – Rick Tocchet (1)
Stephen Leach (1) – pp – 16:15 Second period 03:47 – Scott Mellanby (1)
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson (1) – pp – 12:15 Third period 05:30 – Brian Propp (4)
Kelly Miller (1) – 00:51 First overtime period No scoring
Pete Peeters 21 saves / 24 shots Goalie stats Ron Hextall 40 saves / 44 shots
April 9 Washington Capitals 2–5 Philadelphia Flyers Spectrum Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 03:41 – pp – Tim Kerr (2)
08:54 – Dave Poulin (1)
12:01 – Gord Murphy (1)
19:00 – pp – Rick Tocchet (2)
Dino Ciccarelli (2) – pp – 10:03
Michal Pivonka (2) – sh – 11:32 		Third period 02:11 – Scott Mellanby (2)
Pete Peeters 26 saves / 31 shots Goalie stats Ron Hextall 30 saves / 32 shots
April 11 Philadelphia Flyers 8–5 Washington Capitals Capital Centre Recap  
Rick Tocchet (3) – 03:32
Mike Bullard (1) – 09:35 		First period 03:11 – Bob Rouse (2)
15:53 – pp – Dave Christian (1)
Tim Kerr (3) – 08:57
Tim Kerr (4) – pp – 14:32 		Second period 04:41 – Michal Pivonka (3)
12:31 – pp – Dino Ciccarelli (3)
Brian Propp (5) – 08:03
Pelle Eklund (1) – pp – 13:52
Kjell Samuelsson (1) – 16:32
Ron Hextall (1) – sh-en – 18:58 		Third period 05:35 – pp – Calle Johansson (1)
Ron Hextall 29 saves / 34 shots Goalie stats Pete Peeters 18 saves / 25 shots
April 13 Washington Capitals 3–4 Philadelphia Flyers Spectrum Recap  
Kevin Hatcher (1) – pp – 07:02 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 05:21 – sh – Brian Propp (6)
15:42 – pp – Gord Murphy (2)
Scott Stevens (1) – 03:28
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson (2) – 13:13 		Third period 07:27 – Rick Tocchet (4)
16:42 – Rick Tocchet (5)
Pete Peeters 24 saves / 28 shots Goalie stats Ron Hextall 31 saves / 34 shots
Philadelphia won series 4–2


Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Mike Ridley C 80 41 48 89 49 17 16 0 9
Geoff Courtnall LW 79 42 38 80 112 11 16 0 6
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson RW 72 18 51 69 18 13 5 4 6
Scott Stevens D 80 7 61 68 225 1 6 0 3
Dave Christian RW 80 34 31 65 12 2 16 1 1
Dale Hunter C 80 20 37 57 219 -3 9 0 3
Mike Gartner RW 56 26 29 55 71 8 6 0 1
Kelly Miller LW 78 19 21 40 45 13 2 1 3
Kevin Hatcher D 62 13 27 40 101 19 3 0 2
Larry Murphy D 65 7 29 36 70 -5 3 0 0
Stephen Leach RW 74 11 19 30 94 -4 4 0 0
Michal Pivonka C 52 8 19 27 30 9 1 0 1
Rod Langway D 76 2 19 21 65 12 0 0 0
Bobby Gould RW 75 5 13 18 65 -2 0 1 0
Lou Franceschetti RW 63 7 10 17 123 -4 0 0 0
Dino Ciccarelli RW 11 12 3 15 12 10 3 0 3
John Druce RW 48 8 7 15 62 7 0 0 1
Grant Ledyard D 61 3 11 14 43 1 1 0 1
Mike Millar RW 18 6 3 9 4 -4 3 0 1
Calle Johansson D 12 1 7 8 4 1 1 0 0
Chris Felix D 21 0 8 8 8 7 0 0 0
Neil Sheehy D 72 3 4 7 179 -1 0 0 0
Doug Wickenheiser C 16 2 5 7 4 0 1 0 0
Peter Sundstrom LW 35 4 2 6 12 -5 0 0 0
Yvon Corriveau LW 33 3 2 5 62 0 0 0 0
Bill Houlder D 8 0 3 3 4 7 0 0 0
Jim Thomson RW 14 2 0 2 53 -3 0 0 0
Bob Rouse D 13 0 2 2 36 2 0 0 0
Kent Carlson D 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0
Scot Kleinendorst D 3 0 1 1 10 0 0 0 0
Clint Malarchuk G 42 0 1 1 16 0 0 0 0
Pete Peeters G 35 0 1 1 8 0 0 0 0
Don Beaupre G 11 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0
Shawn Cronin D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Pete Peeters 1854 33 20 7 3 88 2.85 4 790 702 .889
Clint Malarchuk 2428 42 16 18 7 141 3.48 1 1145 1004 .877
Don Beaupre 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
Geoff Courtnall LW 6 2 5 7 12 1 0 0
Dino Ciccarelli RW 6 3 3 6 12 3 0 0
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson RW 4 2 3 5 6 1 0 0
Kevin Hatcher D 6 1 4 5 20 1 0 0
Scott Stevens D 6 1 4 5 11 0 0 0
Mike Ridley C 6 0 5 5 2 0 0 0
Michal Pivonka C 6 3 1 4 10 0 1 0
Dale Hunter C 6 0 4 4 29 0 0 0
Calle Johansson D 6 1 2 3 0 1 0 0
Bob Rouse D 6 2 0 2 4 0 0 0
Dave Christian RW 6 1 1 2 0 1 0 0
Bobby Gould RW 6 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
Lou Franceschetti RW 6 1 0 1 8 0 0 1
Stephen Leach RW 6 1 0 1 12 1 0 0
Kelly Miller LW 6 1 0 1 2 0 0 1
Chris Felix D 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Yvon Corriveau LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
John Druce RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rod Langway D 6 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
Pete Peeters G 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Neil Sheehy D 6 0 0 0 19 0 0 0
Doug Wickenheiser C 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Pete Peeters 359 6 2 4 24 4.01 0 164 140 .854
Team: 359 6 2 4 24 4.01 0 164 140 .854

[4]

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 and records

Transactions

Draft picks

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

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

Farm teams

References

  1. ^ "1988-89 NHL Schedule and Results".
  2. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "1988-89 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 1, 2009.