1975–76 Washington Capitals season

The 1975–76 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals second season in the National Hockey League (NHL). They improved by three games over their dreadful previous season, faring worse than the Kansas City Scouts, who went 12–56–12 (while going 1–2–1 against them), although the latter would move to Colorado after the season while the Capitals remained in their location. Despite a slightly improved record from the previous season, the Capitals failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second year in a row for the first time in franchise history.

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||L||October 7, 1975||2–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) ||0–1–0

|2||L||October 9, 1975||4–5 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) ||0–2–0

|3||L||October 11, 1975||5–7 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) ||0–3–0

|4||L||October 14, 1975||2–7 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) ||0–4–0

|5||L||October 15, 1975||3–4 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) ||0–5–0

|6||T||October 17, 1975||3–3 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1975–76) ||0–5–1

|7||L||October 19, 1975||4–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) ||0–6–1

|8||L||October 22, 1975||2–4 || align="left"| Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) ||0–7–1

|9||L||October 24, 1975||3–6 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) ||0–8–1

|10||W||October 26, 1975||7–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) ||1–8–1

|11||L||October 28, 1975||0–6 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) ||1–9–1

|12||W||October 30, 1975||6–2 || align="left"| @ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) ||2–9–1

|13||L||November 1, 1975||3–7 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1975–76) ||2–10–1

|14||L||November 5, 1975||1–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) ||2–11–1

|15||L||November 9, 1975||3–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1975–76) ||2–12–1

|16||T||November 12, 1975||6–6 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) ||2–12–2

|17||L||November 14, 1975||1–4 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1975–76) ||2–13–2

|18||L||November 15, 1975||2–9 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1975–76) ||2–14–2

|19||L||November 18, 1975||2–4 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) ||2–15–2

|20||L||November 19, 1975||2–5 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) ||2–16–2

|21||L||November 21, 1975||0–2 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1975–76) ||2–17–2

|22||W||November 26, 1975||7–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) ||3–17–2

|23||L||November 29, 1975||3–5 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) ||3–18–2

|24||T||December 3, 1975||4–4 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) ||3–18–3

|25||L||December 4, 1975||2–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1975–76) ||3–19–3

|26||L||December 6, 1975||3–9 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) ||3–20–3

|27||L||December 7, 1975||2–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1975–76) ||3–21–3

|28||L||December 9, 1975||1–7 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) ||3–22–3

|29||L||December 10, 1975||2–7 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) ||3–23–3

|30||L||December 12, 1975||3–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) ||3–24–3

|31||T||December 14, 1975||4–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) ||3–24–4

|32||L||December 17, 1975||2–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1975–76) ||3–25–4

|33||L||December 19, 1975||5–7 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) ||3–26–4

|34||L||December 21, 1975||2–14 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) ||3–27–4

|35||T||December 26, 1975||1–1 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) ||3–27–5

|36||L||December 29, 1975||0–6 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) ||3–28–5

|37||L||December 31, 1975||0–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) ||3–29–5

|38||L||January 2, 1976||5–8 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1975–76) ||3–30–5

|39||L||January 3, 1976||0–7 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) ||3–31–5

|40||L||January 6, 1976||3–5 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) ||3–32–5

|41||L||January 8, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1975–76) ||3–33–5

|42||L||January 9, 1976||0–5 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1975–76) ||3–34–5

|43||L||January 11, 1976||4–7 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1975–76) ||3–35–5

|44||L||January 13, 1976||2–3 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) ||3–36–5

|45||L||January 15, 1976||3–5 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) ||3–37–5

|46||L||January 17, 1976||3–7 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76) ||3–38–5

|47||L||January 21, 1976||2–5 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1975–76) ||3–39–5

|48||W||January 23, 1976||7–5 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1975–76) ||4–39–5

|49||L||January 24, 1976||2–8 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) ||4–40–5

|50||L||January 27, 1976||0–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) ||4–41–5

|51||W||January 28, 1976||4–2 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1975–76) ||5–41–5

|52||L||January 30, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76) ||5–42–5

|53||T||February 4, 1976||4–4 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) ||5–42–6

|54||L||February 7, 1976||1–5 || align="left"| @ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) ||5–43–6

|55||L||February 8, 1976||2–4 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) ||5–44–6

|56||T||February 10, 1976||2–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1975–76) ||5–44–7

|57||L||February 13, 1976||0–2 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1975–76) ||5–45–7

|58||W||February 15, 1976||8–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) ||6–45–7

|59||L||February 16, 1976||1–5 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) ||6–46–7

|60||L||February 18, 1976||4–11 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1975–76) ||6–47–7

|61||W||February 21, 1976||5–1 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) ||7–47–7

|62||L||February 22, 1976||0–4 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1975–76) ||7–48–7

|63||T||February 24, 1976||5–5 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) ||7–48–8

|64||T||February 27, 1976||3–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1975–76) ||7–48–9

|65||W||February 29, 1976||4–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76) ||8–48–9

|66||L||March 6, 1976||3–6 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1975–76) ||8–49–9

|67||L||March 7, 1976||3–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1975–76) ||8–50–9

|68||L||March 12, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1975–76) ||8–51–9

|69||L||March 14, 1976||1–5 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) ||8–52–9

|70||W||March 16, 1976||5–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1975–76) ||9–52–9

|71||L||March 19, 1976||3–7 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) ||9–53–9

|72||L||March 20, 1976||3–7 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76) ||9–54–9

|73||T||March 23, 1976||5–5 || align="left"| Kansas City Scouts (1975–76) ||9–54–10

|74||L||March 24, 1976||3–7 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) ||9–55–10

|75||L||March 26, 1976||1–4 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1975–76) ||9–56–10

|76||L||March 28, 1976||1–3 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1975–76) ||9–57–10

|77||W||March 30, 1976||5–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1975–76) ||10–57–10

|78||L||April 1, 1976||2–11 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76) ||10–58–10

|79||W||April 3, 1976||5–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76) ||11–58–10

|80||L||April 4, 1976||3–4 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1975–76) ||11–59–10

Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 77 26 23 49 14-56500 RW 80 17 29 46 35-49202 LW 80 25 17 42 56-43702 LW 67 13 19 32 75-42202 C 32 16 15 31 10-7300 RW 43 10 19 29 6-33400 C 80 9 19 28 19-26210 LW 31 13 14 27 6-25500 C 74 13 14 27 113-53000 C 46 10 17 27 20-30200 D 54 8 17 25 28-46311 C 49 12 10 22 39-27101 D 79 9 13 22 78-52501 D 80 2 20 22 146-38000 RW 34 8 13 21 6-33200 D 33 6 14 20 2-21501 LW 27 7 12 19 28-6001 D 58 2 13 15 33-38100 C 19 2 10 12 8-4000 LW 46 6 5 11 12-18000 LW 57 4 7 11 50-19000 D 49 0 8 8 40-49000 D 48 0 8 8 42-41000 RW 12 3 3 6 8-2200 D 25 1 2 3 28-22100 RW 8 1 1 2 12-5000 LW 14 0 2 2 9-4000 D 3 1 0 1 12-5100 G 7 0 1 1 00000 D 1 0 1 1 0-1000 C 4 0 1 1 0-2000 D 2 0 0 0 0-1000 G 43 0 0 0 20000 D 9 0 0 0 6-3000 RW 1 0 0 0 0-2000 G 40 0 0 0 00000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 2289 43 6 31 2 208 5.45 0 2134 40 5 23 7 148 4.16 0 377 7 0 5 1 32 5.09 0 Team: 4800 80 11 59 10 388 4.85 0

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 1975 NHL amateur draft held in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)118Alex Forsyth Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)219Peter Scamurra Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)455Blair MacKasey Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL)573Craig Crawford Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)691Roger Swanson Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)7109Clark Jantzie University of Alberta (CIAU)8127Mike Fryia Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)9144Jim Ofrim University of Alberta (CIAU)10161Mal Zinger Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)

See also 1975–76 NHL season

References