2020–21 Washington Capitals season

The 2020–21 Washington Capitals season was the 47th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974.^[2] This was the first season for Peter Laviolette as head coach of the Capitals^[3] after their former head coach Todd Reirden was fired from the team on August 23, 2020.^[4] On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Capitals would play this season in the East Division and would play against only the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.

2020–21 Washington Capitals
Division	2nd East
2020–21 record	36–15–5
Home record	17–8–3
Road record	19–7–2
Goals for	191
Goals against	163
Team information
General manager	Brian MacLellan
Coach	Peter Laviolette[1]
Captain	Alexander Ovechkin
Alternate captains	Nicklas Backstrom John Carlson
Arena	Capital One Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hershey Bears (AHL) South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexander Ovechkin (24)
Assists	Nicklas Backstrom (38)
Points	Nicklas Backstrom (53)
Penalty minutes	Tom Wilson (96)
Plus/minus	Dmitry Orlov (+16)
Wins	Vitek Vanecek (21)
Goals against average	Craig Anderson (2.13)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

On April 29, the Capitals clinched a playoff berth after a 5–4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.^[5] As a result of the Capitals winning in overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers while the Penguins won in regulation against the Buffalo Sabres on May 8, the Penguins won the East division title,^[6] and the Capitals failed to win the division for the first time since the 2014–15 season. They were eliminated from the playoffs in the First Round with a 3–1 loss to the Boston Bruins in game five on May 23.

Standings

Divisional standings

East Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Pittsburgh Penguins	56	37	16	3	29	196	156	+40	77
2	x – Washington Capitals	56	36	15	5	29	191	163	+28	77
3	x – Boston Bruins	56	33	16	7	25	168	136	+32	73
4	x – New York Islanders	56	32	17	7	24	156	128	+28	71
5	New York Rangers	56	27	23	6	24	177	157	+20	60
6	Philadelphia Flyers	56	25	23	8	17	163	201	−38	58
7	New Jersey Devils	56	19	30	7	15	145	194	−49	45
8	Buffalo Sabres	56	15	34	7	11	138	199	−61	37

Source: National Hockey League^[7]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.^[8]

2020–21 game log
January: 6–0–3 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 2–0–2) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 1 January 14 @ Buffalo 6–4 Samsonov 0 1–0–0 2 [9] 2 January 15 @ Buffalo 2–1 Vanecek 0 2–0–0 4 [10] 3 January 17 @ Pittsburgh 3–4 SO Samsonov 0 2–0–1 5 [11] 4 January 19 @ Pittsburgh 4–5 OT Vanecek 0 2–0–2 6 [12] 5 January 22 Buffalo 4–3 SO Vanecek 0 3–0–2 8 [13] 6 January 24 Buffalo 3–4 SO Vanecek 0 3–0–3 9 [14] 7 January 26 NY Islanders 3–2 Vanecek 0 4–0–3 11 [15] 8 January 28 NY Islanders 6–3 Vanecek 0 5–0–3 13 [16] 9 January 30 Boston 4–3 OT Vanecek 0 6–0–3 15 [17]
February: 6–5–1 (Home: 3–3–1; Road: 3–2–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 10 February 1 Boston 3–5 Vanecek 0 6–1–3 15 [18] 11 February 4 @ NY Rangers 2–4 Vanecek 0 6–2–3 15 [19] 12 February 7 Philadelphia 4–7 Anderson 0 6–3–3 15 [20] – February 9 Philadelphia – Postponed due to COVID-19.[21] Rescheduled for April 13.[22] – February 11 @ Buffalo – Postponed due to COVID-19.[23] Rescheduled for March 15.[24] – February 13 @ Buffalo – Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 9.[24] 13 February 14 @ Pittsburgh 3–6 Vanecek 0 6–4–3 15 [25] 14 February 16 @ Pittsburgh 3–1 Vanecek 0 7–4–3 17 [26] 15[A] February 18 Buffalo 3–1 Vanecek 0 8–4–3 19 [28] 16 February 20 NY Rangers 1–4 Vanecek 0 8–5–3 19 [29] 17[B] February 21 New Jersey 4–3 Anderson 0 9–5–3 21 [30] 18 February 23 Pittsburgh 2–3 OT Vanecek 0 9–5–4 22 [31] 19 February 25 Pittsburgh 5–2 Vanecek 0 10–5–4 24 [32] 20 February 27 @ New Jersey 5–2 Vanecek 0 11–5–4 26 [33] 21[A] February 28 @ New Jersey 3–2 Samsonov 0 12–5–4 28 [34]
March: 11–3–0 (Home: 6–1–0; Road: 5–2–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 22 March 3 @ Boston 2–1 SO Vanecek 0 13–5–4 30 [35] 23 March 5 @ Boston 1–5 Vanecek 0 13–6–4 30 [36] 24[B] March 7 @ Philadelphia 3–1 Samsonov 3,023 14–6–4 32 [37] 25 March 9 New Jersey 5–4 OT Vanecek 0 15–6–4 34 [38] 26 March 11 @ Philadelphia 5–3 Samsonov 2,807 16–6–4 36 [39] 27 March 13 @ Philadelphia 5–4 Samsonov 3,083 17–6–4 38 [40] 28 March 15 @ Buffalo 6–0 Vanecek 0 18–6–4 40 [41] 29 March 16 NY Islanders 3–1 Samsonov 0 19–6–4 42 [42] 30 March 19 NY Rangers 2–1 Vanecek 0 20–6–4 44 [43] 31[B] March 20 NY Rangers 1–3 Samsonov 0 20–7–4 44 [44] 32 March 25 New Jersey 4–3 Vanecek 0 21–7–4 46 [45] 33 March 26 New Jersey 4–0 Samsonov 0 22–7–4 48 [46] 34 March 28 NY Rangers 5–4 Samsonov 0 23–7–4 50 [47] 35 March 30 @ NY Rangers 2–5 Vanecek 1,761 23–8–4 50 [48]
April: 9–5–1 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 7–3–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 36 April 1 @ NY Islanders 4–8 Samsonov 1,400 23–9–4 50 [49] 37 April 2 @ New Jersey 2–1 OT Vanecek 3,600 24–9–4 52 [50] 38 April 4 @ New Jersey 5–4 Samsonov 3,600 25–9–4 54 [51] 39 April 6 @ NY Islanders 0–1 Vanecek 1,400 25–10–4 54 [52] 40 April 8 Boston 2–4 Samsonov 0 25–11–4 54 [53] 41 April 9 @ Buffalo 4–3 Vanecek —[a] 26–11–4 56 [54] 42[C] April 11 @ Boston 8–1 Vanecek 2,191 27–11–4 58 [56] 43 April 13 Philadelphia 6–1 Samsonov 0 28–11–4 60 [57] 44 April 15 Buffalo 2–5 Vanecek 0 28–12–4 60 [58] 45 April 17 @ Philadelphia 6–3 Samsonov 3,430 29–12–4 62 [59] 46 April 18 @ Boston 3–6 Vanecek 2,191 29–13–4 62 [60] 47 April 22 @ NY Islanders 1–0 SO Samsonov 1,400 30–13–4 64 [61] 48 April 24 @ NY Islanders 6–3 Samsonov 1,400 31–13–4 66 [62] 49[B] April 27 NY Islanders 1–0 Vanecek 2,133 32–13–4 68 [63] 50 April 29 Pittsburgh 4–5 OT Vanecek 2,133 32–13–5 69 [64]
May: 4–2–0 (Home: 2–2–0; Road: 2–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 51 May 1 Pittsburgh 0–3 Samsonov 2,133 32–14–5 69 [65] 52 May 3 @ NY Rangers 6–3 Vanecek 1,800 33–14–5 71 [66] 53 May 5 @ NY Rangers 4–2 Vanecek 1,800 34–14–5 73 [67] 54 May 7 Philadelphia 2–4 Vanecek 2,133 34–15–5 73 [68] 55 May 8 Philadelphia 2–1 OT Anderson 2,133 35–15–5 75 [69] 56[C] May 11 Boston 2–1 Vanecek 2,133 36–15–5 77 [70]
Win (2 Points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Playoffs

Main article: 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
East Division First Round vs. (E3) Boston Bruins: Boston won 4–1 Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 15 Boston 3–2 OT Anderson 5,333 1–0 [71] 2 May 17 Boston 3–4 OT Anderson 5,333 1–1 [72] 3 May 19 @ Boston 2–3 2OT Samsonov 4,565 1–2 [73] 4 May 21 @ Boston 1–4 Samsonov 4,565 1–3 [74] 5 May 23 Boston 1–3 Samsonov 5,333 1–4 [75]
Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[76] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Nicklas Backstrom 55 15 38 53 0 14 John Carlson 52 10 34 44 −5 12 T. J. Oshie 53 22 21 43 −3 18 Alexander Ovechkin 45 24 18 42 −7 12 Tom Wilson 47 13 20 33 +1 96 Evgeny Kuznetsov 41 9 20 29 +7 18 Justin Schultz 46 3 24 27 +12 10 Jakub Vrana‡ 39 11 14 25 +9 8 Lars Eller 44 8 15 23 −1 21 Conor Sheary 53 14 8 22 −1 14 Dmitry Orlov 51 8 14 22 +16 20 Daniel Sprong 42 13 7 20 +7 12 Brenden Dillon 56 2 17 19 +15 49 Garnet Hathaway 56 6 12 18 +7 66 Carl Hagelin 56 6 10 16 +7 19 Nic Dowd 56 11 4 15 +4 31 Nick Jensen 53 2 12 14 +5 14 Zdeno Chara 55 2 8 10 +5 44 Richard Panik‡ 36 3 6 9 −9 16 Anthony Mantha† 14 4 4 8 0 8 Michael Raffl† 10 1 2 3 +1 7 Trevor van Riemsdyk 20 1 2 3 −1 2 Michael Sgarbossa 5 0 2 2 +2 0 Daniel Carr 6 0 1 1 −2 2 Jonas Siegenthaler‡ 7 0 0 0 −3 2 Garrett Pilon 1 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Pinho 2 0 0 0 −2 0 Connor McMichael 1 0 0 0 0 2 Philippe Maillet 2 0 0 0 −1 0

Playoffs[77] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Alexander Ovechkin 5 2 2 4 −2 2 T. J. Oshie 5 1 3 4 −2 0 Garnet Hathaway 5 2 1 3 +2 4 Dmitry Orlov 5 0 3 3 −1 6 Nic Dowd 5 2 0 2 +1 4 Tom Wilson 5 1 1 2 −3 6 John Carlson 5 0 2 2 −2 6 Anthony Mantha 5 0 2 2 0 6 Brenden Dillon 5 1 0 1 −4 0 Conor Sheary 5 1 0 1 −4 2 Daniel Sprong 3 0 1 1 0 4 Nicklas Backstrom 5 0 1 1 −2 0 Carl Hagelin 5 0 1 1 +1 0 Lars Eller 4 0 1 1 0 0 Evgeny Kuznetsov 3 0 0 0 −1 0 Daniel Carr 1 0 0 0 0 2 Nick Jensen 5 0 0 0 0 2 Michael Raffl 4 0 0 0 −2 4 Zdeno Chara 5 0 0 0 +1 2 Justin Schultz 5 0 0 0 −2 2

Goaltenders

Regular season^[78]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Vitek Vanecek	37	36	2,115:29	21	10	4	95	2.69	1,031	.908	2	0	0	0
Ilya Samsonov	19	18	1,092:49	13	4	1	49	2.69	499	.902	2	0	1	0
Craig Anderson	4	2	168:44	2	1	0	6	2.13	71	.915	0	0	0	0

Playoffs^[79]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Craig Anderson	2	1	112:10	1	1	5	2.67	70	.929	0	0	0	0
Ilya Samsonov	3	3	200:55	0	3	10	2.99	99	.899	0	0	0	0
Vitek Vanecek	1	1	13:10	0	0	1	4.56	4	.750	0	0	0	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.

Draft picks

See also: List of Washington Capitals draft picks

Below are the Washington Capitals' selections at the 2020 NHL entry draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 6–7, 2020 the draft was held virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	22	Hendrix Lapierre	C	Canada	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
4	117	Bogdan Trineyev	RW	Russia	Dynamo Moscow 2 (MHL)
5	148	Bear Hughes	D	United States	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
6	179	Garin Bjorklund	G	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
7	211	Oskar Magunsson	LW	Sweden	Malmö Redhawks (SHL)