10 Best Games in Washington Capitals History
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
#9: Capitals Finally Get Past Islanders In The Playoffs
On April 12th, 1986, the Capitals got a huge gorilla of their back by beating the New York Islanders 3-1 to advance in the playoffs. The Capitals had lost to the Islanders in 1983, 1984, and 1985. The Capitals refused to lose against the Islanders in 1986 and advanced past the Islanders for the first time in franchise history.
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The victory meant a lot to the team back then because they did it without forward Bengt-Ake Gustafsson. Gustafsson was injured thanks to a dirty cheap shot by Islanders defenseman Denis Potvin earlier in the season. The Capitals got revenge in the sweetest way possible by knocking them out of the playoffs.
It was also sweet to beat the Islanders after they eliminated the Caps the first three seasons that they made the playoffs. The Caps swept the Islanders to get revenge for a different kind of sweep in 1985. The Caps led 2-0 in that series before the Islanders won three straight.
This was an extremely important victory for the Washington Capitals because the Islanders had been a huge gorilla on the Capitals back for their first 12 seasons of existence and especially for the previous three seasons. The Caps threw that huge gorilla off their back and made a statement with the 3-1 win.