1995–96 Washington Capitals season

The 1995–96 Washington Capitals season was the Capitals' 22nd season of play. The Capitals made the playoffs, but lost their opening round series 4–2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

1995–96 Washington Capitals
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	7th Eastern
1995–96 record	39–32–11
Home record	21–15–5
Road record	18–17–6
Goals for	234
Goals against	204
Team information
General manager	David Poile
Coach	Jim Schoenfeld
Captain	Dale Hunter
Arena	USAir Arena
Average attendance	15,155
Minor league affiliate(s)	Portland Pirates Hampton Roads Admirals
Team leaders
Goals	Peter Bondra (52)
Assists	Michal Pivonka (65)
Points	Michal Pivonka (81)
Penalty minutes	Kevin Kaminski (164)
Plus/minus	Mark Tinordi (+26)
Wins	Jim Carey (35)
Goals against average	Jim Carey (2.26)
← 1994–95 1996–97 →

Off-season

The Capitals introduced a new logo and color scheme featuring blue, black and bronze.^[1][2]

Regular season

The Capitals tied the Detroit Red Wings for most shutouts for (9) during the regular season.^[3]

Final standings

Atlantic Division

No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	New York Rangers	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
3	Florida Panthers	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
4	Washington Capitals	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
5	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	38	32	12	238	248	88
6	New Jersey Devils	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
7	New York Islanders	82	22	50	10	229	315	54

Eastern Conference^[4]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
3	New York Rangers	ATL	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
4	Florida Panthers	ATL	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
5	Boston Bruins	NE	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
6	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
7	Washington Capitals	ATL	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
8	Tampa Bay Lightning	ATL	82	38	32	12	238	248	88
9	New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
11	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	33	42	7	247	262	73
12	New York Islanders	ATL	82	22	50	10	229	315	54
13	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

Regular season

1995–96 regular season[5]
October: 7–3–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 4–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 7, 1995 4–1 St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 1–0–0 W 2 October 11, 1995 1–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 1–1–0 L 3 October 13, 1995 3–1 Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 2–1–0 W 4 October 14, 1995 2–0 Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 3–1–0 W 5 October 17, 1995 4–3 @ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 4–1–0 W 6 October 18, 1995 2–4 @ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 4–2–0 L 7 October 20, 1995 4–7 Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 4–3–0 L 8 October 26, 1995 4–2 @ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 5–3–0 W 9 October 28, 1995 4–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 6–3–0 W 10 October 29, 1995 3–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 7–3–0 W
November: 4–8–2 (home: 2–5–1; road: 2–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 11 November 1, 1995 5–2 Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 8–3–0 W 12 November 3, 1995 2–3 Florida Panthers (1995–96) 8–4–0 L 13 November 4, 1995 3–2 @ New York Islanders (1995–96) 9–4–0 W 14 November 7, 1995 3–4 Boston Bruins (1995–96) 9–5–0 L 15 November 10, 1995 1–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 9–6–0 L 16 November 11, 1995 1–4 Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 9–7–0 L 17 November 14, 1995 2–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 9–7–1 T 18 November 17, 1995 2–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 9–8–1 L 19 November 18, 1995 0–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 9–9–1 L 20 November 21, 1995 3–2 San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 10–9–1 W 21 November 24, 1995 1–2 Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 10–10–1 L 22 November 25, 1995 4–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 11–10–1 W 23 November 29, 1995 2–2 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 11–10–2 T 24 November 30, 1995 2–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 11–11–2 L
December: 7–4–1 (home: 5–1–0; road: 2–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 25 December 2, 1995 3–5 @ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 11–12–2 L 26 December 5, 1995 3–4 Florida Panthers (1995–96) 11–13–2 L 27 December 8, 1995 2–2 OT @ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 11–13–3 T 28 December 10, 1995 6–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 12–13–3 W 29 December 14, 1995 4–3 OT New York Islanders (1995–96) 13–13–3 W 30 December 16, 1995 3–2 New York Rangers (1995–96) 14–13–3 W 31 December 18, 1995 0–3 @ New York Rangers (1995–96) 14–14–3 L 32 December 22, 1995 6–3 Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 15–14–3 W 33 December 23, 1995 1–3 @ New York Islanders (1995–96) 15–15–3 L 34 December 26, 1995 4–0 Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 16–15–3 W 35 December 28, 1995 5–4 @ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 17–15–3 W 36 December 30, 1995 3–0 Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 18–15–3 W
January: 5–6–2 (home: 4–2–2; road: 1–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 37 January 1, 1996 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 19–15–3 W 38 January 3, 1996 0–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 19–16–3 L 39 January 5, 1996 4–4 OT New York Rangers (1995–96) 19–16–4 T 40 January 6, 1996 1–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 19–17–4 L 41 January 11, 1996 6–1 Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 20–17–4 W 42 January 13, 1996 2–4 Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 20–18–4 L 43 January 16, 1996 1–1 OT Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 20–18–5 T 44 January 17, 1996 3–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 21–18–5 W 45 January 23, 1996 4–5 Florida Panthers (1995–96) 21–19–5 L 46 January 25, 1996 1–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 21–20–5 L 47 January 26, 1996 1–0 Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 22–20–5 W 48 January 28, 1996 3–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 23–20–5 W 49 January 31, 1996 3–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 23–21–5 L
February: 6–4–3 (home: 3–1–0; road: 3–3–3) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 50 February 1, 1996 4–2 @ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 24–21–5 W 51 February 3, 1996 6–5 OT New York Islanders (1995–96) 25–21–5 W 52 February 7, 1996 2–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 26–21–5 W 53 February 8, 1996 4–4 OT @ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 26–21–6 T 54 February 10, 1996 4–4 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 26–21–7 T 55 February 13, 1996 3–2 Calgary Flames (1995–96) 27–21–7 W 56 February 15, 1996 3–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 27–22–7 L 57 February 16, 1996 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 28–22–7 W 58 February 18, 1996 0–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 28–23–7 L 59 February 22, 1996 3–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 28–24–7 L 60 February 24, 1996 1–2 New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 28–25–7 L 61 February 27, 1996 5–3 @ New York Rangers (1995–96) 29–25–7 W 62 February 29, 1996 2–2 OT @ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 29–25–8 T
March: 7–4–3 (home: 4–3–2; road: 3–1–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 63 March 2, 1996 2–0 @ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 30–25–8 W 64 March 3, 1996 3–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 31–25–8 W 65 March 9, 1996 1–6 New York Rangers (1995–96) 31–26–8 L 66 March 10, 1996 0–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 31–27–8 L 67 March 12, 1996 9–0 Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 32–27–8 W 68 March 15, 1996 2–5 Boston Bruins (1995–96) 32–28–8 L 69 March 17, 1996 2–1 Dallas Stars (1995–96) 33–28–8 W 70 March 19, 1996 1–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 33–29–8 L 71 March 21, 1996 3–3 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 33–29–9 T 72 March 23, 1996 2–2 OT Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 33–29–10 T 73 March 26, 1996 7–1 @ New York Islanders (1995–96) 34–29–10 W 74 March 27, 1996 1–0 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 35–29–10 W 75 March 29, 1996 5–0 Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 36–29–10 W 76 March 31, 1996 1–1 OT Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 36–29–11 T
April: 3–3–0 (home: 0–2–0; road: 3–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 77 April 3, 1996 5–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 37–29–11 W 78 April 4, 1996 2–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 37–30–11 L 79 April 6, 1996 4–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1995–96) 38–30–11 W 80 April 10, 1996 4–1 @ New York Rangers (1995–96) 39–30–11 W 81 April 11, 1996 2–3 New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 39–31–11 L 82 April 13, 1996 2–3 Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 39–32–11 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1996 Stanley Cup playoffs[5]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins – Penguins win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 April 17, 1996 6–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Capitals lead 1–0 W 2 April 19, 1996 5–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Capitals lead 2–0 W 3 April 22, 1996 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins Capitals lead 2–1 L 4 April 24, 1996 2–3 4OT Pittsburgh Penguins Series tied 2–2 L 5 April 26, 1996 1–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins Penguins lead 3–2 L 6 April 28, 1996 2–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Penguins win 4–2 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Capitals only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
20	Michal Pivonka	C	73	16	65	81	18	36	6	3	2	5	1	18
12	Peter Bondra	RW	67	52	28	80	18	40	6	3	2	5	0	8
90	Joe Juneau	C	80	14	50	64	−3	30	5	0	7	7	−4	6
22	Steve Konowalchuk	LW	70	23	22	45	13	92	2	0	2	2	1	0
9[a]	Keith Jones	RW	68	18	23	41	8	103	2	0	0	0	−1	7
55	Sergei Gonchar	D	78	15	26	41	25	60	6	2	4	6	−1	4
3	Sylvain Cote	D	81	5	33	38	5	40	6	2	0	2	−3	12
32	Dale Hunter	C	82	13	24	37	5	112	6	1	5	6	4	24
14	Pat Peake	C	62	17	19	36	7	46	5	2	1	3	−4	12
6	Calle Johansson	D	78	10	25	35	13	50	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Kelly Miller	LW	74	7	13	20	7	30	6	0	1	1	−1	4
16	Stefan Ustorf	C	48	7	10	17	8	14	5	0	0	0	−1	0
24	Mark Tinordi	D	71	3	10	13	26	113	6	0	0	0	−2	16
27	Craig Berube	LW	50	2	10	12	1	151	2	0	0	0	−1	19
2	Ken Klee	D	66	8	3	11	−1	60	1	0	0	0	0	0
21	Todd Krygier†	LW	16	6	5	11	8	12	6	2	0	2	−3	12
36	Mike Eagles	C	70	4	7	11	−1	75	6	1	1	2	1	2
29	Joe Reekie	D	78	3	7	10	7	149	—	—	—	—	—	—
11	Jeff Nelson	C	33	0	7	7	3	16	3	0	0	0	0	4
18	Andrew Brunette	LW	11	3	3	6	5	0	6	1	3	4	−5	0
4	Jim Johnson	D	66	2	4	6	−3	34	6	0	0	0	−2	6
19	Brendan Witt	D	48	2	3	5	−4	85	—	—	—	—	—	—
34	Martin Gendron	RW	20	2	1	3	−5	8	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	Kevin Kaminski	C	54	1	2	3	−1	164	3	0	0	0	0	16
41	Jason Allison	C	19	0	3	3	−3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Steve Poapst	D	3	1	0	1	−1	0	6	0	0	0	0	0
30	Jim Carey	G	71	0	1	1		6	3	0	0	0		0
28	Eric Charron†	D	4	0	1	1	3	4	6	0	0	0	1	8
38	Nolan Baumgartner	D	1	0	0	0	−1	0	1	0	0	0	−1	10
26	Denis Chasse†‡	RW	3	0	0	0	−1	5	—	—	—	—	—	—
37	Olaf Kolzig	G	18	0	0	0		2	5	0	0	0		4
26	Stewart Malgunas†	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Richard Zednik	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Jim Carey	71	35	24	9	1631	153	2.26	.906	9	4069	3	0	1	39	10	6.18	.744	0	97
37	Olaf Kolzig	18	4	8	2	406	46	3.08	.887	0	897	5	2	3	167	11	1.93	.934	0	341

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Lester Patrick Trophy	Milt Schmidt	[6]
	NHL First All-Star team	Jim Carey (Goaltender)	[7]
	Vezina Trophy	Jim Carey	[8]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Peter Bondra	[9]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Stefan Ustorf	October 7, 1995	[10]
	Brendan Witt
	Nolan Baumgartner	October 18, 1995
	Andrew Brunette	January 17, 1996
	Steve Poapst	April 10, 1996
	Richard Zednik	April 13, 1996

Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 1995 NHL entry draft held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta.^[11]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	17	Brad Church	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
1	23	Miika Elomo	Finland	Kiekko-67 Turku (Finland)
2	43	Dwayne Hay	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
4	93	Sebastien Charpentier	Canada	Laval Titan College Francais (QMJHL)
4	95	Joel Theriault	Canada	Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
5	105	Benoit Gratton	Canada	Laval Titan College Francais (QMJHL)
5	124	Joel Cort	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
6	147	Frederick Jobin	Canada	Laval Titan College Francais (QMJHL)
8	199	Vasili Turkovsky	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)
9	225	Scott Swanson	United States	Omaha Lancers (USHL)

See also

• 1995–96 NHL season

Notes

1. Jones wore number 26 through November 14.