1986–87 Washington Capitals season

1986–87 Washington Capitals
Division2nd Patrick
ConferenceWales
1986–87 record38–32–10
Goals for285
Goals against278
Team information
General managerDavid Poile
CoachBryan Murray
CaptainRod Langway

The 1986–87 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals 13th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Patrick Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Philadelphia Flyers 80 46 26 8 310 245 100
Washington Capitals 80 38 32 10 285 278 86
New York Islanders 80 35 33 12 279 281 82
New York Rangers 80 34 38 8 307 323 76
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 30 38 12 297 290 72
New Jersey Devils 80 29 45 6 293 368 64

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

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Campbell Conference


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 9, 1986 4–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 0–1–0
2 L October 11, 1986 1–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 0–2–0
3 W October 13, 1986 7–6 OT @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 1–2–0
4 L October 16, 1986 4–7 @ New York Islanders (1986–87) 1–3–0
5 L October 18, 1986 2–4 Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) 1–4–0
6 W October 20, 1986 5–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) 2–4–0
7 T October 21, 1986 4–4 OT @ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) 2–4–1
8 W October 24, 1986 8–2 Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) 3–4–1
9 W October 25, 1986 2–1 New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 4–4–1
10 W October 28, 1986 5–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) 5–4–1
11 L October 29, 1986 3–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) 5–5–1
12 L November 1, 1986 1–4 @ Calgary Flames (1986–87) 5–6–1
13 L November 4, 1986 1–7 @ New York Islanders (1986–87) 5–7–1
14 W November 5, 1986 3–2 Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) 6–7–1
15 W November 8, 1986 3–2 Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) 7–7–1
16 T November 11, 1986 2–2 OT @ Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) 7–7–2
17 T November 12, 1986 2–2 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) 7–7–3
18 L November 14, 1986 1–4 Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) 7–8–3
19 L November 16, 1986 2–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 7–9–3
20 L November 18, 1986 5–6 Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) 7–10–3
21 T November 21, 1986 3–3 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) 7–10–4
22 L November 22, 1986 4–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 7–11–4
23 T November 26, 1986 2–2 OT Boston Bruins (1986–87) 7–11–5
24 L November 28, 1986 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 7–12–5
25 L November 29, 1986 3–4 @ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) 7–13–5
26 W December 1, 1986 2–1 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) 8–13–5
27 T December 3, 1986 3–3 OT @ Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) 8–13–6
28 W December 6, 1986 3–1 Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) 9–13–6
29 W December 9, 1986 4–2 New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 10–13–6
30 L December 10, 1986 2–8 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) 10–14–6
31 L December 14, 1986 1–3 New York Rangers (1986–87) 10–15–6
32 L December 17, 1986 1–6 @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 10–16–6
33 L December 19, 1986 4–6 @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 10–17–6
34 W December 20, 1986 5–3 St. Louis Blues (1986–87) 11–17–6
35 W December 26, 1986 2–1 New York Islanders (1986–87) 12–17–6
36 L December 28, 1986 5–7 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) 12–18–6
37 L December 30, 1986 1–3 Hartford Whalers (1986–87) 12–19–6
38 W January 1, 1987 4–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 13–19–6
39 L January 3, 1987 1–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 13–20–6
40 W January 5, 1987 6–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1986–87) 14–20–6
41 L January 7, 1987 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 14–21–6
42 W January 9, 1987 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 15–21–6
43 T January 11, 1987 2–2 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 15–21–7
44 L January 13, 1987 2–3 Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) 15–22–7
45 W January 15, 1987 3–2 @ New York Islanders (1986–87) 16–22–7
46 W January 17, 1987 6–1 @ Hartford Whalers (1986–87) 17–22–7
47 W January 18, 1987 6–1 @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 18–22–7
48 W January 20, 1987 6–3 New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 19–22–7
49 W January 23, 1987 3–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) 20–22–7
50 L January 24, 1987 3–6 Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) 20–23–7
51 L January 27, 1987 5–7 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 20–24–7
52 W January 28, 1987 2–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) 21–24–7
53 T January 30, 1987 3–3 OT New York Islanders (1986–87) 21–24–8
54 W February 1, 1987 6–4 Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) 22–24–8
55 L February 4, 1987 2–3 @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 22–25–8
56 L February 6, 1987 2–5 Hartford Whalers (1986–87) 22–26–8
57 L February 7, 1987 4–5 OT New York Rangers (1986–87) 22–27–8
58 W February 15, 1987 5–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) 23–27–8
59 L February 18, 1987 4–7 @ Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) 23–28–8
60 W February 20, 1987 6–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) 24–28–8
61 W February 22, 1987 5–2 @ Calgary Flames (1986–87) 25–28–8
62 W February 24, 1987 8–2 Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) 26–28–8
63 W February 27, 1987 5–2 Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) 27–28–8
64 W March 1, 1987 7–3 New York Rangers (1986–87) 28–28–8
65 W March 3, 1987 3–2 New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 29–28–8
66 L March 5, 1987 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 29–29–8
67 L March 7, 1987 2–3 OT @ Boston Bruins (1986–87) 29–30–8
68 L March 10, 1987 3–6 Calgary Flames (1986–87) 29–31–8
69 W March 13, 1987 10–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) 30–31–8
70 T March 14, 1987 3–3 OT @ St. Louis Blues (1986–87) 30–31–9
71 L March 17, 1987 4–5 Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) 30–32–9
72 W March 20, 1987 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) 31–32–9
73 W March 22, 1987 4–3 Boston Bruins (1986–87) 32–32–9
74 W March 24, 1987 3–1 @ New York Islanders (1986–87) 33–32–9
75 T March 27, 1987 2–2 OT New York Islanders (1986–87) 33–32–10
76 W March 29, 1987 4–2 Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) 34–32–10
77 W March 31, 1987 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) 35–32–10
78 W April 1, 1987 5–1 @ New York Rangers (1986–87) 36–32–10
79 W April 4, 1987 3–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) 37–32–10
80 W April 5, 1987 6–5 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) 38–32–10

Playoffs

The 1987 playoff Capitals run was best known for the Easter Epic, when the Caps played the longest game 7 in their franchise history through four overtime periods. Unfortunately, they lost to the New York Islanders 3–2 in that game seven and lost the series 4–3.


April 8 New York Islanders 3–4 Washington Capitals Capital Centre
April 9 New York Islanders 3–1 Washington Capitals Capital Centre
April 11 Washington Capitals 2–0 New York Islanders Nassau Coliseum
April 12 Washington Capitals 4–1 New York Islanders Nassau Coliseum
April 14 New York Islanders 4–2 Washington Capitals Capital Centre
April 16 Washington Capitals 4–5 New York Islanders Nassau Coliseum
April 18 New York Islanders 3–2 4OT Washington Capitals Capital Centre
New York won series 4–3


Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Larry Murphy D 80 23 58 81 39 25 8 0 4
Mike Gartner RW 78 41 32 73 61 1 5 6 10
Scott Stevens D 77 10 51 61 283 13 2 0 0
Craig Laughlin RW 80 22 30 52 67 -3 11 0 5
Gaetan Duchesne LW 74 17 35 52 53 18 0 1 4
Dave Christian RW 76 23 27 50 8 -5 5 0 2
Bobby Gould RW 78 23 27 50 74 18 1 1 2
Greg Adams LW 67 14 30 44 184 9 2 0 0
Michal Pivoňka C 73 18 25 43 41 -19 4 0 2
Alan Haworth C 50 25 16 41 43 3 9 0 2
Mike Ridley C 40 15 19 34 20 -1 6 0 3
Rod Langway D 78 2 25 27 53 11 0 0 1
Kevin Hatcher D 78 8 16 24 144 -29 1 0 2
Kelly Miller LW 39 10 12 22 26 10 3 1 0
Lou Franceschetti RW 75 12 9 21 127 -9 0 0 1
David Jensen C 46 8 8 16 12 -10 2 0 0
Bobby Carpenter C 22 5 7 12 21 -7 4 0 0
Garry Galley D 18 1 10 11 10 3 1 0 0
John Blum D 66 2 8 10 133 1 0 0 0
Greg Smith D 45 0 9 9 31 -6 0 0 0
John Barrett D 55 2 2 4 43 -16 0 0 0
Pete Peeters G 37 0 4 4 16 0 0 0 0
Gary Sampson LW 25 1 2 3 4 -9 0 0 0
Jeff Greenlaw LW 22 0 3 3 44 2 0 0 0
Yvon Corriveau LW 17 1 1 2 24 -4 0 0 0
Ed Kastelic W 23 1 1 2 83 -3 1 0 0
Paul Cavallini D 6 0 2 2 8 -4 0 0 0
Stephen Leach RW 15 1 0 1 6 -4 0 0 0
Yves Beaudoin D 6 0 0 0 5 -4 0 0 0
Bob Crawford RW 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Al Jensen G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grant Martin LW 9 0 0 0 4 -1 0 0 0
Bob Mason G 45 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jim Thomson RW 10 0 0 0 35 -2 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Bob Mason 2536 45 20 18 5 137 3.24 0 1247 1110 .890
Pete Peeters 2002 37 17 11 4 107 3.21 0 930 823 .885
Al Jensen 328 6 1 3 1 27 4.94 0 184 157 .853
Team: 4866 80 38 32 10 271 3.34 0 2361 2090 .885

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Mike Gartner RW 7 4 3 7 14 0 0 0
Scott Stevens D 7 0 5 5 19 0 0 0
Kelly Miller LW 7 2 2 4 0 0 0 0
Larry Murphy D 7 2 2 4 6 0 0 1
Greg Adams LW 7 1 3 4 38 1 0 0
Dave Christian RW 7 1 3 4 6 0 0 1
Gaetan Duchesne LW 7 3 0 3 14 0 0 0
Mike Ridley C 7 2 1 3 6 0 0 1
Bobby Gould RW 7 0 3 3 8 0 0 0
Alan Haworth C 6 0 3 3 7 0 0 0
Michal Pivonka C 7 1 1 2 2 0 0 0
Kevin Hatcher D 7 1 0 1 20 0 0 0
Ed Kastelic W 5 1 0 1 13 1 0 0
Grant Martin LW 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 0
John Blum D 6 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
Rod Langway D 7 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Lou Franceschetti RW 7 0 0 0 23 0 0 0
Garry Galley D 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
David Jensen C 7 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Craig Laughlin RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bob Mason G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pete Peeters G 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Greg Smith D 7 0 0 0 11 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Bob Mason 309 4 2 2 9 1.75 1 143 134 .937
Pete Peeters 180 3 1 2 9 3.00 0 76 67 .882
Team: 489 7 3 4 18 2.21 1 219 201 .918

[3]

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 1986 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 19 Jeff Greenlaw  Canada Canadian National Development Team
2 40 Steve Seftel  Canada Kingston Canadians (OHL)
3 60 Shawn Simpson  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
3 61 Jim Hrivnak  Canada Merrimack College (Hockey East)
4 82 Erin Ginnell  Canada Calgary Wranglers (WHL)
5 103 John Purves  Canada Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)
6 124 Stefan Nilsson  Sweden Luleå HF (Sweden)
7 145 Peter Choma  Canada Belleville Bulls (OHL)
8 166 Lee Davidson  Canada Penticton Knights (BCHL)
9 187 Tero Toivola  Finland Tappara (Finland)
10 208 Bob Babcock  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
11 229 John Schratz  Canada Amherst Ramblers (MVLHL)
12 250 Scott McCrory  Canada Oshawa Generals (OHL)
S2 22 Steve Cousins  Canada University of Alberta (CIAU)

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1986-87 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 1, 2009.