2013–14 Washington Capitals season

The 2013–14 Washington Capitals season was the 40th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 11, 1974.^[2] The Capitals failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2006–07 season, ending their six-season playoff streak. During this season, the Capitals also set the current NHL record for total shootouts in a season with 21 out of possible 82 games.^[3] This would be the last season the Capitals failed to make the playoffs until 2023.

Division5th Metropolitan

Conference9th Eastern

2013–14 record38–30–14

Home record21–13–7

Quick facts Washington Capitals, Division ...

2013–14 Washington Capitals
Division	5th Metropolitan
Conference	9th Eastern
2013–14 record	38–30–14
Home record	21–13–7
Road record	17–17–7
Goals for	235
Goals against	240
Team information
General manager	George McPhee
Coach	Adam Oates
Captain	Alexander Ovechkin
Alternate captains	Nicklas Backstrom Mike Green Brooks Laich
Arena	Verizon Center
Average attendance	18,054 (96.3%)^[1] (41 games)
Minor league affiliates	Hershey Bears (AHL) Reading Royals (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexander Ovechkin (51)
Assists	Nicklas Backstrom (61)
Points	Nicklas Backstrom Alexander Ovechkin (79)
Penalty minutes	Tom Wilson (151)
Plus/minus	Steve Oleksy Joel Ward (+7)
Wins	Braden Holtby (23)
Goals against average	Jaroslav Halak (2.31)
← 2012–13 2014–15 →

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Standings

More information Pos, GP ...

Metropolitan Division
Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Pittsburgh Penguins	82	51	24	7	44	249	207	+42	109
2	x – New York Rangers	82	45	31	6	41	218	193	+25	96
3	x – Philadelphia Flyers	82	42	30	10	39	236	235	+1	94
4	x – Columbus Blue Jackets	82	43	32	7	38	231	216	+15	93
5	Washington Capitals	82	38	30	14	28	235	240	−5	90
6	New Jersey Devils	82	35	29	18	35	197	208	−11	88
7	Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	35	11	34	207	230	−23	83
8	New York Islanders	82	34	37	11	25	225	267	−42	79

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Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

More information Pos, Div ...

Eastern Conference Wild Card
Pos	Div	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	ME	x – Columbus Blue Jackets	82	43	32	7	38	231	216	+15	93
2	AT	x – Detroit Red Wings	82	39	28	15	34	222	230	−8	93

3	ME	Washington Capitals	82	38	30	14	28	235	240	−5	90
4	ME	New Jersey Devils	82	35	29	18	35	197	208	−11	88
5	AT	Ottawa Senators	82	37	31	14	30	236	265	−29	88
6	AT	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	38	36	8	29	231	256	−25	84
7	ME	Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	35	11	34	207	230	−23	83
8	ME	New York Islanders	82	34	37	11	25	225	267	−42	79
9	AT	Florida Panthers	82	29	45	8	21	196	268	−72	66
10	AT	Buffalo Sabres	82	21	51	10	14	157	248	−91	52

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Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Pre-season

More information #, Date ...

2013 preseason game log: 4–0–4 (Home: 2–0–2; Road: 2–0–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1^[a]	September 14	Washington	4–3	Winnipeg	SO	Grubauer	3,257	1–0–0	Recap
2	September 16	Washington	4–3	Philadelphia	SO	Leggio	19,142	2–0–0	Recap
3^[b]	September 17	Boston	3–2	Washington	SO	Grubauer	11,286	2–0–1	Recap
4	September 20	Chicago	5–4	Washington	SO	Leggio	17,047	2–0–2	Recap
5	September 23	Washington	2–3	Boston	OT	Holtby	17,006	2–0–3	Recap
6	September 25	Nashville	1–4	Washington		Neuvirth	16,748	3–0–3	Recap
7	September 27	Philadelphia	3–6	Washington		Neuvirth	17,121	4–0–3	Recap
8	September 28	Washington	3–4	Chicago	OT	Holtby	20,650	4–0–4	Recap
Notes: ^a Game was played at Yardmen Arena in Belleville, Ontario. ^b Game was played at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Regular season

More information October: 5–7–0 (Home: 3–3–0; Road: 2–4–0), # ...

2013–14 game log

October: 5–7–0 (Home: 3–3–0; Road: 2–4–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 1	Washington	4–6	Chicago		Holtby	22,158	0–1–0	0	Recap
2	October 3	Calgary	4–5	Washington	SO	Neuvirth	18,506	1–1–0	2	Recap
3	October 5	Washington	1–2	Dallas		Holtby	17,200	1–2–0	2	Recap
4	October 10	Carolina	3–2	Washington		Holtby	18,506	1–3–0	2	Recap
5	October 12	Colorado	5–1	Washington		Neuvirth	18,506	1–4–0	2	Recap
6	October 14	Edmonton	2–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	2–4–0	4	Recap
7	October 16	NY Rangers	2–0	Washington		Holtby	18,506	2–5–0	4	Recap
8	October 19	Columbus	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	3–5–0	6	Recap
9	October 22	Washington	5–4	Winnipeg	SO	Holtby	15,004	4–5–0	8	Recap
10	October 24	Washington	4–1	Edmonton		Holtby	16,839	5–5–0	10	Recap
11	October 26	Washington	2–5	Calgary		Holtby	19,289	5–6–0	10	Recap
12	October 28	Washington	2–3	Vancouver		Neuvirth	18,910	5–7–0	10	Recap

November: 9–4–2 (Home: 6–3–0; Road: 3–1–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
13	November 1	Washington	7–0	Philadelphia		Holtby	19,702	6–7–0	12	Recap
14	November 2	Florida	2–3	Washington	SO	Neuvirth	18,506	7–7–0	14	Recap
15	November 5	NY Islanders	2–6	Washington		Holtby	18,506	8–7–0	16	Recap
16	November 7	Minnesota	2–3	Washington	SO	Holtby	18,506	9–7–0	18	Recap
17	November 9	Washington	3–4	Phoenix	SO	Neuvirth	16,106	9–7–1	19	Recap
18	November 10	Washington	1–4	Colorado		Holtby	17,625	9–8–1	19	Recap
19	November 12	Columbus	3–4	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	10–8–1	21	Recap
20	November 15	Washington	4–3	Detroit	SO	Holtby	20,066	11–8–1	23	Recap
21	November 17	St. Louis	1–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	12–8–1	25	Recap
22	November 20	Pittsburgh	4–0	Washington		Holtby	18,506	12–9–1	25	Recap
23	November 22	Montreal	3–2	Washington		Neuvirth	18,506	12–10–1	25	Recap
24	November 23	Washington	1–2	Toronto	SO	Holtby	19,473	12–10–2	26	Recap
25	November 27	Ottawa	6–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	12–11–2	26	Recap
26	November 29	Montreal	2–3	Washington	SO	Holtby	18,506	13–11–2	28	Recap
27	November 30	Washington	3–2	NY Islanders	OT	Holtby	14,819	14–11–2	30	Recap

December: 6–4–3 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 2–2–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
28	December 3	Carolina	4–1	Washington		Holtby	18,506	14–12–2	30	Recap
29	December 7	Nashville	2–5	Washington		Holtby	18,506	15–12–2	32	Recap
30	December 8	Washington	4–1	NY Rangers		Grubauer	18,006	16–12–2	34	Recap
31	December 10	Tampa Bay	5–6	Washington	SO	Grubauer	18,506	17–12–2	36	Recap
32	December 13	Washington	2–3	Florida	SO	Grubauer	15,097	17–12–3	37	Recap
33	December 15	Philadelphia	4–5	Washington	SO	Grubauer	18,506	18–12–3	39	Recap
34	December 17	Washington	2–5	Philadelphia		Holtby	19,788	18–13–3	39	Recap
35	December 20	Washington	4–2	Carolina		Grubauer	17,737	19–13–3	41	Recap
36	December 21	New Jersey	5–4	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	19–13–4	42	Recap
37	December 23	Anaheim	3–2	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	19–14–4	42	Recap
38	December 27	NY Rangers	2–3	Washington		Grubauer	18,506	20–14–4	44	Recap
39	December 29	Washington	1–2	Buffalo	SO	Grubauer	19,070	20–14–5	45	Recap
40	December 30	Washington	1–3	Ottawa		Grubauer	20,193	20–15–5	45	Recap

January: 4–7–4 (Home: 1–1–3; Road: 3–6–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
41	January 2	Carolina	4–3	Washington	OT	Grubauer	18,506	20–15–6	46	Recap
42	January 4	Washington	3–5	Minnesota		Holtby	19,022	20–16–6	46	Recap
43	January 9	Washington	4–3	Tampa Bay		Grubauer	19,204	21–16–6	48	Recap
44	January 10	Toronto	2–3	Washington		Neuvirth	18,506	22–16–6	50	Recap
45	January 12	Buffalo	2–1	Washington	SO	Grubauer	18,506	22–16–7	51	Recap
46	January 14	San Jose	2–1	Washington	SO	Grubauer	18,506	22–16–8	52	Recap
47	January 15	Washington	3–4	Pittsburgh		Neuvirth	18,667	22–17–8	52	Recap
48	January 17	Washington	1–5	Columbus		Grubauer	14,121	22–18–8	52	Recap
49	January 19	Washington	1–4	NY Rangers		Grubauer	18,006	22–19–8	52	Recap
50	January 21	Ottawa	2–0	Washington		Holtby	18,506	22–20–8	52	Recap
51	January 24	Washington	1–2	New Jersey		Neuvirth	15,742	22–21–8	52	Recap
52	January 25	Washington	5–0	Montreal		Holtby	21,273	23–21–8	54	Recap
53	January 28	Washington	5–4	Buffalo	OT	Holtby	18,923	24–21–8	56	Recap
54	January 30	Washington	2–5	Columbus		Holtby	16,047	24–22–8	56	Recap
55	January 31	Washington	3–4	Detroit	SO	Neuvirth	20,066	24–22–9	57	Recap

February: 4–1–0 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 1–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
56	February 2	Detroit	5–6	Washington	OT	Neuvirth	18,506	25–22–9	59	Recap
57	February 4	NY Islanders	1–0	Washington		Neuvirth	18,506	25–23–9	59	Recap
58	February 6	Winnipeg	2–4	Washington		Holtby	18,506	26–23–9	61	Recap
59	February 8	New Jersey	0–3	Washington		Holtby	18,506	27–23–9	63	Recap
60	February 27	Washington	5–4	Florida		Holtby	14,180	28–23–9	65	Recap

March: 6–5–4 (Home: 3–2–2; Road: 3–3–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
61	March 1	Washington	4–2	Boston		Holtby	17,565	29–23–9	67	Recap
62	March 2	Philadelphia	5–4	Washington	OT	Holtby	18,506	29–23–10	68	Recap
63	March 5	Washington	4–6	Philadelphia		Grubauer	19,919	29–24–10	68	Recap
64	March 6	Washington	0–3	Boston		Holtby	17,565	29–25–10	68	Recap
65	March 8	Phoenix	2–3	Washington		Halak	18,506	30–25–10	70	Recap
66	March 10	Pittsburgh	3–2	Washington		Halak	18,506	30–26–10	70	Recap
67	March 11	Washington	0–2	Pittsburgh		Halak	18,646	30–27–10	70	Recap
68	March 14	Vancouver	3–4	Washington		Halak	18,506	31–27–10	72	Recap
69	March 16	Toronto	2–4	Washington		Halak	18,506	32–27–10	74	Recap
70	March 18	Washington	3–2	Anaheim		Halak	17,174	33–27–10	76	Recap
71	March 20	Washington	1–2	Los Angeles	SO	Halak	18,118	33–27–11	77	Recap
72	March 22	Washington	3–2	San Jose	SO	Holtby	17,562	34–27–11	79	Recap
73	March 25	Los Angeles	5–4	Washington	SO	Halak	18,506	34–27–12	80	Recap
74	March 29	Boston	4–2	Washington		Holtby	18,506	34–28–12	80	Recap
75	March 30	Washington	3–4	Nashville	SO	Halak	16,553	34–28–13	81	Recap

April: 4–2–1 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 3–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
76	April 1	Dallas	5–0	Washington		Holtby	18,506	34–29–13	81	Recap
77	April 4	Washington	1–2	New Jersey		Halak	15,218	34–30–13	81	Recap
78	April 5	Washington	4–3	NY Islanders	SO	Holtby	16,008	35–30–13	83	Recap
79	April 8	Washington	4–1	St. Louis		Holtby	17,447	36–30–13	85	Recap
80	April 10	Washington	5–2	Carolina		Holtby	15,735	37–30–13	87	Recap
81	April 11	Chicago	0–4	Washington		Halak	18,506	38–30–13	89	Recap
82	April 13	Tampa Bay	1–0	Washington	SO	Holtby	18,506	38–30–14	90	Recap

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

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Player statistics

Final stats

Skaters

More information Player, GP ...

Regular season^[4]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Alexander Ovechkin	78	51	28	79	−35	48
Nicklas Backstrom	82	18	61	79	−20	54
Joel Ward	82	24	25	49	7	32
Marcus Johansson	80	8	36	44	−21	4
Troy Brouwer	82	25	18	43	−6	92
Jason Chimera	82	15	27	42	4	36
Mike Green	70	9	29	38	−16	64
John Carlson	82	10	27	37	−3	22
Mikhail Grabovski	58	13	22	35	6	26
Eric Fehr	73	13	18	31	0	32
Martin Erat^‡	53	1	23	24	1	22
Karl Alzner	82	2	16	18	−7	26
Brooks Laich	51	8	7	15	−7	16
Dmitry Orlov	54	3	8	11	−1	19
Tom Wilson	82	3	7	10	1	151
Steve Oleksy	33	2	8	10	7	53
Jay Beagle	62	4	5	9	−9	28
Evgeny Kuznetsov	17	3	6	9	−2	6
Nate Schmidt	29	2	4	6	4	6
Connor Carrick	34	1	5	6	−9	23
Michael Latta	17	1	3	4	0	12
John Erskine	37	1	3	4	−5	56
Casey Wellman	13	2	1	3	3	0
Dustin Penner^†	18	1	2	3	3	2
Patrick Wey	9	0	3	3	0	5
Aaron Volpatti	41	2	0	2	−3	49
Alexander Urbom^‡	20	1	1	2	1	19
Julien Brouillette	10	1	1	2	3	0
Chris Brown	6	1	1	2	0	0
Tyson Strachan	18	0	2	2	−2	28
Jack Hillen	13	0	1	1	−4	4
Ryan Stoa	3	0	0	0	−1	0
Peter LeBlanc	1	0	0	0	0	0
Nicolas Deschamps	3	0	0	0	−1	0
Cameron Schilling	1	0	0	0	−2	0

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Goaltenders

More information Player, GP ...

Regular season^[4]
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	A	PIM
Braden Holtby	48	45	2,656:20	23	15	4	126	2.85	1475	0.915	4	2	7
Philipp Grubauer	17	14	883:23	6	5	5	35	2.38	469	0.925	0	0	0
Michal Neuvirth^‡	13	11	766:57	4	6	2	36	2.82	383	0.914	0	1	0
Jaroslav Halak^†	12	12	700:32	5	4	3	27	2.31	383	0.930	1	0	0

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^†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.

Transactions

The Capitals have been involved in the following transactions during the 2013–14 season.

Trades

June 30, 2013^[5]	To Winnipeg Jets 3rd-round pick in 2013 4th-round pick in 2013 CGY's 5th-round pick in 2013	To Washington Capitals CHI's 2nd-round pick in 2013
September 29, 2013^[6]	To Anaheim Ducks Mathieu Perreault	To Washington Capitals John Mitchell 4th-round pick in 2014
March 4, 2014^[7]	To Anaheim Ducks ANA's 4th-round pick in 2014	To Washington Capitals Dustin Penner
March 4, 2014^[8]	To Phoenix Coyotes Martin Erat John Mitchell	To Washington Capitals Chris Brown Rostislav Klesla 4th-round pick in 2015
March 5, 2014^[9]	To Buffalo Sabres Michal Neuvirth Rostislav Klesla	To Washington Capitals Jaroslav Halak 3rd-round pick in 2015
April 19, 2014^[10]	To Nashville Predators Jaynen Rissling	To Washington Capitals 7th-round pick in 2014
May 1, 2014^[11]	To New York Islanders Jaroslav Halak	To Washington Capitals CHI's 4th-round pick in 2014

More information Player, Former team ...

Free agents acquired

Player	Former team	Contract terms
David Kolomatis^[12]	Manchester Monarchs	1 year, $550,000
Tyson Strachan^[13]	Florida Panthers	1 year, $550,000
Matt Watkins^[13]	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	1 year, $550,000
David Leggio^[13]	Rochester Americans	1 year, $550,000
Brandon Segal^[14]	Connecticut Whale	1 year, $550,000
Mikhail Grabovski^[15]	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 year, $3 million
Pheonix Copley^[16]	Michigan Tech	2 years, $1.41 million entry-level contract

Free agents lost

Player	New team	Contract terms
Wojtek Wolski^[17]	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod	undisclosed
Dany Sabourin^[18]	Graz 99ers	undisclosed
Jeff Schultz^[19]	Los Angeles Kings	1 year, $700,000
Matt Hendricks^[20]	Nashville Predators	4 years, $7.4 million
Mike Ribeiro^[21]	Phoenix Coyotes	4 years, $22 million
Joey Crabb^[22]	Florida Panthers	2 years, $1.2 million

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More information Player, Previous team ...

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date
Alexander Urbom^[23]	New Jersey Devils	October 3, 2013

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date
Alexander Urbom^[24]	New Jersey Devils	January 8, 2014

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Player signings

More information Player, Date ...

Player	Date	Contract terms
Tomas Kundratek^[25]	July 2, 2013	2 years, $1.1 million
Karl Alzner^[26]	July 10, 2013	4 years, $11.2 million
Peter LeBlanc^[27]	July 10, 2013	1 year, $550,000
Nicolas Deschamps^[28]	July 22, 2013	1 year, $726,000
Andre Burakovsky^[29]	September 4, 2013	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Marcus Johansson^[30]	September 7, 2013	2 years, $4 million
Connor Carrick^[31]	September 23, 2013	3 years, $2.35 million entry-level contract
Jason Chimera^[32]	November 8, 2013	2 years, $4 million contract extension
Evgeny Kuznetsov^[33]	March 8, 2014	2 years, $1.8 million entry-level contract
Dmitry Orlov^[34]	March 13, 2014	2 years, $4 million contract extension
Caleb Herbert^[35]	March 21, 2014	2 years, $1.48 million entry-level contract
Chandler Stephenson^[36]	April 12, 2014	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Garrett Mitchell^[37]	May 13, 2014	1 year, $550,000
Christian Djoos^[38]	May 16, 2014	3 years, $2.135 million entry-level contract

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Draft picks

Washington Capitals' picks at the 2013 NHL entry draft, which was held in Newark, New Jersey on June 30, 2013.

More information Round, # ...

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	23	Andre Burakovsky	LW	Sweden	Malmö Redhawks (Swe-2)
2	53	Madison Bowey	D	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
3	61^[a]	Zach Sanford	LW	United States	Islanders Hockey Club (EJHL)
5	144	Blake Heinrich	D	United States	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
6	174	Brian Pinho	C	United States	St. John's Prep Eagles (USHS-MA)
7	204	Tyler Lewington	D	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

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Draft notes^[39]

^a The Chicago Blackhawks' second-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013, that sent Washington's third and fourth-round picks in 2013 (84th and 114th overall) and Calgary's fifth-round pick in 2013 (127th overall) to Winnipeg in exchange for this pick.^[40]
Winnipeg previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013 that sent Johnny Oduya to Chicago in exchange for Chicago's third-round pick in 2013 and this pick.^[41]
The Washington Capitals' third-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013, that sent Chicago's second-round pick in 2013 (61st overall) to Washington in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2013 (114th overall), Calgary's fifth-round pick in 2013 (127th overall) and this pick.^[40]
The Washington Capitals' fourth-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013, that sent Chicago's second-round pick in 2013 (61st overall) to Washington in exchange for a third-round pick in 2013 (84th overall), Calgary's fifth-round pick in 2013 (127th overall) and this pick.^[40]
The Calgary Flames' fifth-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013, that sent Chicago's second-round pick in 2013 (61st overall) to Washington in exchange for a third and fourth-round pick in 2013 (84th and 114th overall) and this pick.^[40]
Washington previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 27, 2012, that sent Dennis Wideman to Calgary in exchange for Jordan Henry and this pick.^[42]

2013–14 Washington Capitals season

Standings

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

Player statistics

Transactions

Trades

Free agents acquired

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Player signings

Draft picks

References

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