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

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.

The third time was the charm for the Washington Capitals when they went head-to-head with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the third time in the regular season.

These two foes played a thrilling seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series the year before so naturally, these three games would be circled on the calendar.

The Capitals dropped the first meeting on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day 6-3 in Tampa. They would meet in D.C. four days later in a very memorable game despite the Capitals coming up short.

There was a combined six goals in the second period but four were from Tampa which gave them a 4-3 lead in the third before Evgeny Kuznetsov forced overtime with a goal with 53 seconds left. Victor Hedman won it in overtime.

They met one more time 10 days later with the Capitals earning a 6-3 win. The Capitals scored three in the first period with a goal from Nicklas Backstrom and two from T.J. Oshie. Backstrom added his second of the game in the middle period and Alex Ovechkin scored twice to reach 50 goals on the season in the third period to cap off the win.

Braden Holtby stoped 25 of the 28 shots he faced for a .893 save percentage. Sadly no conference final rematch.

There were some memorable games between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. This one at Capital One Arena was a sure classic.

Nicklas Backstrom continued his postseason tear to give the Capitals an early 1-0 lead in Game 2 before T.J. Oshie doubled the lead. The Hurricanes stormed bac with goals from Lucas Wallmark before the end of the first and Sebastian Aho in the second.

After Tom Wilson gave the Caitals the lead it was short-lived when Jordan Staal tied it on the power play. Washington squandered both a 2-0 and 3-2 lead.

In the extra session it would be Brooks Orpik playing the hero. A slapshot on the left face-off circle landed top shelf and that helped the Capitals to a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Even though the Capitals came up short in this series, it was games like that which will still be talked about. There is a possibility that Orpik could hang up his skates and retire. If that’s the case this goal is one of two rare one’s Orpik scored that will be memorable in Capitals history.

The other came in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals to give Washington their first Stanley Cup game victory.

Tom Wilson finally returned to the lineup after he began his season serving a 20-game suspension his hit on Oskar Sundqvist in the preseason finale.

His return also came early. Thanks to a neutral arbitrator his suspension was reduced to 14 games and he was eligible to return to the lineup.

Wilson’s impact was immediate but it seems like anything Tom Wilson does isn’t without controversy. That’s not necessarily his fault but even on his first goal there was a whistle coming from the ref.

Dmitry Orlov scored to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead and with 28 seconds left in the first period, Wilson finally notched his first goal of the season. Wilson buried a pass from Orlov right in front of the net.

Wilson bumped into Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk after being tangled up with Ryan Suter. The ref called goaltender interference but the goal still counted. Weird.

The Capitals also got goals from Andre Burakovsky, Orlov, and T.J. Oshie for a 5-2 win. Pheonix Copley stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced for a .929 save percentage.

Wilson’s return had a positive effect for the Capitals as they would go on to win the first of eight of their next nine games.

For the first time since the tables turned in Game 5 of the second round the previous year, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins met on Nov. 7 for Wednesday Night Hockey.

This was the Capitals only win of the season against the Penguins but this was arguably the most memorable game of the season between these teams.

Evgeni Malkin laid out a hit early in the game on T.J. Oshie but it wouldn’t be the first time. Oshie left the game but returned to action later. Moments after the hit, Sidney Crosby struck on the power play to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Alex Ovechkin got a PPG of his own from the office to tie the game.

Early in the third on a Penguins power play, Malkin did it again. Malkin got a five-minute major and was ejected from the game. Oshie left the ice and went to the trainers room.

But then late in the game when the Capitals needed a goal, Oshie came back on the ice and delivered game-winner with 1:14 left.

John Carlson fed Oshie with the perfect pass and Oshie went top shelf to send the fans home happy. Yes there’s nothing better than beating the Penguins but looking back at the 2018-19 season, nothing topped this next moment and it wasn’t even close.