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Washington Capitals: Top 5 Moments of the 2018-19 Season

By Michael Marzzacco

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Alex Ovechkin #8, Nicklas Backstrom #19, and Brooks Orpik #44 of the Washington Capitals watch the 2018 Stanley Cup Championship banner rise to the rafters before playing against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on October 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Alex Ovechkin #8, Nicklas Backstrom #19, and Brooks Orpik #44 of the Washington Capitals watch the 2018 Stanley Cup Championship banner rise to the rafters before playing against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on October 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 03: The Washington Capitals stand behind the Stanley Cup and watch the Championship Banner being raised on October 3, 2018, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. for the opening night game against the Boston Bruins. The Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins, 7-0. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 03: The Washington Capitals stand behind the Stanley Cup and watch the Championship Banner being raised on October 3, 2018, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. for the opening night game against the Boston Bruins. The Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins, 7-0. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Even though the Washington Capitals season ended too soon it doesn’t mean the 2018-19 season was forgettable.

There were many great moments in what had felt like a honeymoon season after the Washington Capitals lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time in their franchise history the season before.

After finally reaching that mountaintop, general manager Brian MacLellan did his absolute best to bring back as many players from that team as he could. But even though the roster looked nearly identical to the one the previous season, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any challenges along the way.

One of the biggest challenges was the shorter offseason with the perk of playing hockey through June. Another one was a first year head coach being relied upon to coach a team that was coming to the season as defending Stanley Cup champions.

That meant not only having to adjust to coaching at the NHL level but also getting your opponents’ best effort night in and night out. There were some moments where the Capitals were put to the test from a 20-game suspension to Tom Wilson to start the year to a few key pieces injured.

Anyway, let’s get things started.

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