1976–77 Washington Capitals season

The 1976–77 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals third season in the National Hockey League (NHL).

This season was much better than the past two seasons, with the Capitals winning 24 games. The Capitals missed the playoffs for the third year in a row for the first time in franchise history.

Regular season Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 5, 1976||6–5 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||1–0–0

|2||T||October 7, 1976||3–3 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) ||1–0–1

|3||L||October 9, 1976||3–6 || align="left"| @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||1–1–1

|4||L||October 13, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||1–2–1

|5||L||October 16, 1976||1–7 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||1–3–1

|6||L||October 19, 1976||0–6 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||1–4–1

|7||T||October 21, 1976||5–5 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||1–4–2

|8||L||October 24, 1976||1–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||1–5–2

|9||W||October 29, 1976||2–1 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||2–5–2

|10||L||October 31, 1976||4–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||2–6–2

|11||L||November 3, 1976||0–7 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||2–7–2

|12||L||November 5, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||2–8–2

|13||W||November 7, 1976||4–1 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||3–8–2

|14||W||November 9, 1976||4–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||4–8–2

|15||W||November 10, 1976||7–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1976–77) ||5–8–2

|16||L||November 12, 1976||4–5 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||5–9–2

|17||L||November 14, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||5–10–2

|18||L||November 18, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||5–11–2

|19||L||November 19, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||5–12–2

|20||W||November 21, 1976||3–1 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||6–12–2

|21||L||November 24, 1976||2–6 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||6–13–2

|22||L||November 27, 1976||1–6 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||6–14–2

|23||W||November 30, 1976||6–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||7–14–2

|24||L||December 1, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1976–77) ||7–15–2

|25||T||December 3, 1976||4–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||7–15–3

|26||T||December 5, 1976||5–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||7–15–4

|27||W||December 7, 1976||4–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||8–15–4

|28||L||December 10, 1976||1–7 || align="left"| @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||8–16–4

|29||L||December 11, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||8–17–4

|30||L||December 14, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||8–18–4

|31||W||December 17, 1976||3–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||9–18–4

|32||W||December 18, 1976||5–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||10–18–4

|33||L||December 23, 1976||2–5 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||10–19–4

|34||L||December 26, 1976||2–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||10–20–4

|35||L||December 28, 1976||2–5 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1976–77) ||10–21–4

|36||L||December 29, 1976||1–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||10–22–4

|37||L||January 1, 1977||1–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||10–23–4

|38||W||January 2, 1977||2–1 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||11–23–4

|39||T||January 4, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) ||11–23–5

|40||T||January 6, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||11–23–6

|41||L||January 8, 1977||2–7 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||11–24–6

|42||W||January 10, 1977||2–0 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) ||12–24–6

|43||L||January 11, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||12–25–6

|44||L||January 15, 1977||1–2 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1976–77) ||12–26–6

|45||T||January 16, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1976–77) ||12–26–7

|46||L||January 18, 1977||0–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||12–27–7

|47||W||January 19, 1977||4–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||13–27–7

|48||L||January 22, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||13–28–7

|49||W||January 23, 1977||6–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||14–28–7

|50||W||January 27, 1977||4–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) ||15–28–7

|51||W||January 29, 1977||5–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||16–28–7

|52||T||January 30, 1977||5–5 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||16–28–8

|53||L||February 2, 1977||2–7 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||16–29–8

|54||T||February 5, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1976–77) ||16–29–9

|55||L||February 6, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) ||16–30–9

|56||T||February 9, 1977||4–4 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||16–30–10

|57||L||February 10, 1977||2–9 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) ||16–31–10

|58||L||February 12, 1977||0–10 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||16–32–10

|59||T||February 15, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||16–32–11

|60||T||February 17, 1977||4–4 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) ||16–32–12

|61||L||February 19, 1977||1–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) ||16–33–12

|62||T||February 20, 1977||2–2 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1976–77) ||16–33–13

|63||W||February 22, 1977||3–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||17–33–13

|64||W||February 25, 1977||4–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||18–33–13

|65||L||February 26, 1977||1–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||18–34–13

|66||L||March 1, 1977||2–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||18–35–13

|67||W||March 3, 1977||7–4 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) ||19–35–13

|68||L||March 6, 1977||2–4 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1976–77) ||19–36–13

|69||L||March 9, 1977||2–5 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) ||19–37–13

|70||L||March 10, 1977||0–6 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) ||19–38–13

|71||T||March 13, 1977||3–3 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) ||19–38–14

|72||L||March 15, 1977||1–5 || align="left"| Cleveland Barons (1976–77) ||19–39–14

|73||W||March 18, 1977||5–0 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1976–77) ||20–39–14

|74||L||March 20, 1977||2–6 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1976–77) ||20–40–14

|75||W||March 25, 1977||7–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1976–77) ||21–40–14

|76||W||March 27, 1977||7–4 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) ||22–40–14

|77||W||March 29, 1977||6–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) ||23–40–14

|78||W||March 30, 1977||4–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) ||24–40–14

|79||L||April 2, 1977||0–11 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||24–41–14

|80||L||April 3, 1977||1–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) ||24–42–14

Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 80 36 46 82 10-28614 C 80 28 36 64 13-11916 RW 79 23 27 50 37-28714 LW 78 19 27 46 51-21202 RW 45 13 22 35 21101 D 75 5 25 30 90-15000 C 76 12 17 29 24-20000 RW 43 13 14 27 1244502 RW 54 11 14 25 26-7021 C 80 11 12 23 16-16121 LW 72 12 9 21 44-15213 RW 28 7 10 17 2-10100 D 80 2 15 17 207-25000 D 45 3 12 15 16-20100 D 56 1 14 15 91-5000 D 62 3 11 14 169-5020 D 79 1 12 13 92-27100 LW 22 6 5 11 4-4100 D 15 4 4 8 2-9200 C 18 2 6 8 34-9000 C 34 5 2 7 85-6000 D 22 0 5 5 20-3000 RW 37 3 1 4 6-15000 RW 12 1 2 3 2-6000 D 21 0 2 2 8-6000 LW 10 0 1 1 18-1000 LW 9 0 1 1 2-6000 G 37 0 1 1 20000 D 9 0 0 0 12-12000 G 3 0 0 0 00000 C 1 0 0 0 00000 C 6 0 0 0 0-2000 G 54 0 0 0 40000 D 1 0 0 0 20000 C 3 0 0 0 0-3000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 2918 54 16 27 5 188 3.87 0 1779 37 7 15 9 114 3.84 1 103 3 1 0 0 2 1.17 0 Team: 4800 80 24 42 14 304 3.80 1

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals       MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; Draft picks Washington's draft picks at the 1976 NHL amateur draft held in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)11Rick Green London Knights (OHA)115Greg Carroll Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)337Tom Rowe London Knights (OMJHL)455Al Glendinning Calgary Centennials (WCHL)573Doug Patey Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)691Jim Bedard Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)6100Don Wilson St. Catharines Black Hawks (OMJHL)7109Dale Rideout Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)8119Al Dumba Regina Pats (WCHL)

See also 1976–77 NHL season

References