2009–10 Washington Capitals season
NHL hockey team season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2009–10 Washington Capitals season was the team's 36th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The season started with the 2009 NHL Entry Draft on June 26–27 with the Capitals holding the 24th selection in the draft.[1] On December 28, 2009, the Capitals traded away captain Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurcina to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for winger Jason Chimera. On January 5, 2010, Alexander Ovechkin was named the team's new captain, the unanimous choice of his teammates. Ovechkin became the first European, second-youngest and 14th overall captain in team history.[2] From January 13 to February 7, 2010, Washington won 14-straight games.[3] The Capitals eventually finished 2009-10 regular season first in the Eastern Conference and in the NHL with 121 points, securing their first ever President's Trophy while also becoming the first non-Original Six team to ever reach the 120-point plateau. The Capitals finished the regular season in first place in scoring, with 313 goals (excluding five shootout-winning goals). This was the highest total by an NHL team since the 1995–96 season. Seven Washington players reached the 20-goal mark. The Capitals also scored the most power-play goals in the league with 79, and had the best power-play percentage at 25.24% (79 for 313).[4][5][6]
2009–10 Washington Capitals | |
---|---|
Presidents' Trophy winners | |
Southeast Division champions | |
Division | 1st Southeast |
Conference | 1st Eastern |
2009–10 record | 54–15–13 |
Home record | 30–5–6 |
Road record | 24–10–7 |
Goals for | 315 |
Goals against | 229 |
Team information | |
General manager | George McPhee |
Coach | Bruce Boudreau |
Captain | Chris Clark (Oct.–Dec.) Vacant (Dec. 28 – Jan. 5) Alexander Ovechkin (Jan.–Apr.) |
Alternate captains | Mike Knuble Alexander Ovechkin (Oct.–Jan.) Tom Poti |
Arena | Verizon Center |
Average attendance | 18,277 |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Alexander Ovechkin (50) |
Assists | Nicklas Backstrom (68) |
Points | Alexander Ovechkin (109) |
Penalty minutes | Alexander Ovechkin (87) |
Plus/minus | Jeff Schultz (+48) |
Wins | Jose Theodore (30) |
Goals against average | Semyon Varlamov (2.54) |
Ovechkin led the team with 109 points and finished as the league's third-highest goal scorer, despite playing nine games fewer than the league leaders. Fellow Capital's player Nicklas Bäckström finished the season with 101 points, the fourth-most in the NHL. Mike Green led all defensemen in points, finishing with 76. The Capitals also dominated the plus-minus category, with five players finishing in the top six in the league.[7] Despite enjoying a top-ranked regular season, the Capitals were ousted by the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs in 7 games. Their early post-season exit in 2010 was considered one of the biggest playoff upsets in NHL history.