1982–83 Washington Capitals season

1982–83 Washington Capitals
Division3rd Patrick
Conference5th Wales
1982–83 record39–25–16
Home record22–12–6
Road record17–13–10
Goals for306
Goals against283
Team information
General managerDavid Poile
CoachBryan Murray
CaptainRod Langway
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaCapital Centre
Team leaders
GoalsMike Gartner (38)
AssistsDennis Maruk (50)
PointsDennis Maruk (81)
Penalty minutesRandy Holt (275)
Plus/minusGlen Currie (+18)
WinsAl Jensen (22)
Goals against averagePat Riggin (3.36)

The 1982–83 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals ninth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). They qualified for the playoffs for the very first time in franchise history after eight frustrating seasons.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Philadelphia Flyers 80 49 23 8 326 240 106
New York Islanders 80 42 26 12 302 226 96
80 39 25 16 306 283 94
New York Rangers 80 35 35 10 306 287 80
New Jersey Devils 80 17 49 14 230 338 48
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 18 53 9 250 394 45

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Campbell Conference


Schedule and results

Regular season

1982–83 game log[3]
October: 3–6–1 (home: 0–3–1; road: 3–3–0)
Game Date
Time (ET)
Visitor Score Home Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
1 October 6 Washington 5–4 NY Rangers Riggin Madison Square Garden 17,413 1–0–0 2 W1
2 October 9 Philadelphia 3–2 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 17,704 1–1–0 2 L1
3 October 10 Washington 4–6 Philadelphia Moore Spectrum 16,790 1–2–0 2 L2
4 October 13 Washington 5–3 Toronto Parro Maple Leaf Gardens 16,300 2–2–0 4 W1
5 October 16
8:05 p.m. EDT
Buffalo 9–2 Washington Parro Capital Centre 13,710 2–3–0 4 L1
6 October 20
7:35 p.m. EDT
Montreal 3–3 Washington Parro Capital Centre 12,849 2–3–1 5 T1
7 October 21
8:05 p.m. EDT
Washington 3–6 NY Islanders Riggin Nassau Coliseum 14,633 2–4–1 5 L1
8 October 23
8:05 p.m. EDT
Minnesota 3–1 Washington Parro Capital Centre 12,768 2–5–1 5 L2
9 October 27 Washington 5–7 Pittsburgh Parro Pittsburgh Civic Arena 6,916 2–6–1 5 L3
10 October 30 Washington 6–5 St. Louis Riggin Checkerdome 10,689 3–6–1 7 W1
November: 5–3–5 (home: 5–1–0; road: 5–2–4)
Game Date
Time (ET)
Visitor Score Home Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
11 November 3
8:35 p.m. EST
Washington 3–3 Chicago Riggin Chicago Stadium 13,864 3–6–2 8 T1
12 November 5 St. Louis 4–3 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 14,337 3–7–2 8 L1
13 November 7
7:05 p.m. EST
Hartford 2–6 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 12,816 4–7–2 10 W1
14 November 8
7:45 p.m. EST
Washington 2–2 New Jersey Riggin Brendan Byrne Arena 10,273 4–7–3 11 T1
15 November 10
7:35 p.m. EST
New Jersey 0–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 12,445 5–7–3 13 W1
16 November 13
8:05 p.m. EST
NY Islanders 1–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 14,131 6–7–3 15 W2
17 November 16
7:35 p.m. EST
Calgary 3–5 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 10,705 7–7–3 17 W3
18 November 19 Washington 3–3 Winnipeg Jensen Winnipeg Arena 11,555 7–7–4 18 T1
19 November 21 Washington 3–5 Vancouver Riggin Pacific Coliseum 12,154 7–8–4 18 L1
20 November 23
9:35 p.m. EST
Washington 3–6 Calgary Jensen Stampede Corral 7,242 7–9–4 18 L2
21 November 24
9:35 p.m. EST
Washington 3–3 Edmonton Riggin Northlands Coliseum 17,498 7–9–5 19 T1
22 November 26 Toronto 3–5 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 13,752 8–9–5 21 W1
23 November 28
7:05 p.m. EST
NY Islanders 3–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre
12,380
8–9–6 22 T1
December: 9–1–4 (home: 5–1–2; road: 4–0–2)
Game Date
Time (ET)
Visitor Score Home Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
24 December 2 Pittsburgh 4–5 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 8,827 9–9–6 24 W1
25 December 4
8:05 p.m. EST
Chicago 2–4 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 10,885 10–9–6 26 W2
26 December 7 Winnipeg 3–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 8,612 10–9–7 27 L1
27 December 9
7:35 p.m. EST
Washington 6–4 New Jersey Riggin Brendan Byrne Arena 9,123 11–9–7 29 W1
28 December 10 NY Rangers 4–4 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 12,551 11–9–8 30 T1
29 December 12
7:05 p.m. EST
Boston 3–4 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 10,435 12–9–8 32 W1
30 December 14
7:35 p.m. EST
Los Angeles 2–7 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 8,696 13–9–8 34 W2
31 December 16
8:35 p.m. EST
Washington 4–4 Minnesota Riggin Met Center 12,340 13–9–9 35 T1
32 December 18 Washington 3–1 Pittsburgh Jensen Pittsburgh Civic Arena 8,250 14–9–9 37 W1
33 December 19 Washington 3–1 Philadelphia Jensen Spectrum 16,849 15–9–9 39 W2
34 December 23
8:05 p.m. EST
Washington 5–1 NY Islanders Jensen Nassau Coliseum 15,230 16–9–9 41 W3
35 December 26 Philadelphia 6–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 18,130 16–10–9 41 L1
36 December 28 Pittsburgh 3–6 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 14,213 17–10–9 43 W1
37 December 30
7:35 p.m. EST
Washington 4–4 Hartford Riggin Hartford Civic Center 11,385 17–10–10 44 T1
January: 7–6–2 (home: 3–5–0; road: 4–1–2)
Game Date
Time (ET)
Visitor Score Home Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
38 January 1 NY Rangers 7–2 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 13,766 17–11–10 44 L1
39 January 2 Washington 7–4 Quebec Riggin Quebec Coliseum 15,258 18–11–10 46 W1
40 January 5
7:35 p.m. EST
Washington 5–2 Detroit Jensen Joe Louis Arena 11,676 19–11–10 48 W2
41 January 6 Toronto 3–1 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 10,801 19–12–10 48 L1
42 January 8 Washington 3–3 St. Louis Jensen Checkerdome 12,563 19–12–11 49 T1
43 January 11
7:35 p.m. EST
Los Angeles 9–7 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 9,422 19–13–11 49 L1
44 January 14
7:35 p.m. EST
Washington 2–3 Buffalo Jensen Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 11,646 19–14–11 49 L2
45 January 15
8:05 p.m. EST
Buffalo 4–2 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 11,409 19–15–11 49 L3
46 January 18 Philadelphia 1–4 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 10,981 20–15–11 51 W1
47 January 19
8:35 p.m. EST
Washington 6–4 Chicago Jensen Chicago Stadium 17,482 21–15–11 53 W2
48 January 21 Quebec 5–4 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 13,365 21–16–11 53 L1
49 January 23
1:35 p.m. EST
New Jersey 1–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 8,839 22–16–11 55 W1
50 January 26 Washington 6–2 Pittsburgh Riggin Pittsburgh Civic Arena 5,209 23–16–11 57 W2
51 January 28 Pittsburgh 2–7 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 10,978 24–16–11 59 W3
52 January 29
8:05 p.m. EST
Washington 3–3 Montreal Jensen Montreal Forum 16,835 24–16–12 60 T1
February: 6–4–2 (home: 4–0–0; road: 2–4–2)
Game Date
Time (ET)
Visitor Score Home Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
53 February 1
7:35 p.m. EST
Detroit 2–5 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 9,314 25–16–12 62 W1
54 February 3
7:35 p.m. EST
Minnesota 1–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 9,680 26–16–12 64 W2
55 February 5
8:05 p.m. EST
New Jersey 4–5 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 13,150 27–16–12 66 W3
56 February 6 Washington 4–4 Quebec Riggin Quebec Coliseum 15,232 27–16–13 67 T1
35th All-Star Game in Uniondale, New York
57 February 10
8:05 p.m. EST
Washington 3–8 NY Islanders Jensen Nassau Coliseum 15,055 27–17–13 67 L1
58 February 13 Winnipeg 1–6 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 9,582 28–17–13 69 W1
59 February 16 Washington 4–5 NY Rangers Jensen Madison Square Garden 17,414 28–18–13 69 L1
60 February 18 Washington 2–1 Vancouver Riggin Pacific Coliseum 15,183 29–18–13 71 W1
61 February 19
10:35 p.m. EST
Washington 3–3 Los Angeles Riggin The Forum 14,087 29–18–14 72 T1}}
62 February 23
9:35 p.m. EST
Washington 3–6 Edmonton Jensen Northlands Coliseum 17,498 29–19–14 72 L1
63 February 24
9:35 p.m. EST
Washington 4–2 Calgary Riggin Stampede Corral 7,242 30–19–14 74 W1
64 February 26
8:05 p.m. EST
Washington 1–4 Montreal Riggin Montreal Forum 16,988 30–20–14 74 L1
March: 8–4–2 (home: 4–2–2; road: 4–2–0)
Game Date
Time (ET)
Visitor Score Home Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
65 March 2
7:35 p.m. EST
Edmonton 5–3 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 18,130 30–21–14 74 L2
66 March 3 Washington 4–3 NY Rangers Jensen Madison Square Garden 17,411 31–21–14 76 W1
67 March 5 Philadelphia 3–4 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 18,022 32–21–14 78 W2
68 March 8
7:45 p.m. EST
Washington 5–4 New Jersey Riggin Brendan Byrne Arena 9,350 33–21–14 80 W3
69 March 12
5:05 p.m. EST
Washington 2–6 NY Islanders Jensen Nassau Coliseum 15,230 33–22–14 80 L1
70 March 13
1:35 p.m. EST
Boston 4–6 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 15,729 34–22–14 82 W1
71 March 16
7:35 p.m. EST
Hartford 4–5 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 8,980 35–22–14 84 W2
72 March 17
7:35 p.m. EST
Washington 2–1 Boston Riggin Boston Garden 13,179 36–22–14 86 W3
73 March 20 Washington 3–2 Philadelphia Riggin Spectrum 17,147 37–22–14 88 W4
74 March 23 Vancouver 1–1 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 11,401 37–22–15 89 T1
75 March 24
7:35 p.m. EST
New Jersey 3–5 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 9,713 38–22–15 91 W1
76 March 26 Pittsburgh 4–4 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 13,775 38–22–16 92 T1
77 March 27 Washington 4–5 NY Rangers Jensen Madison Square Garden 17,391 38–23–16 92 L1
78 March 30
7:35 p.m. EST
NY Islanders 7–1 Washington Riggin Capital Centre 17,848 38–24–16 92 L2
April: 1–1–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–1–0)
Game Date Visitor Score Home Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap
79 April 1
7:35 p.m. EST
Washington 7–8 Detroit Jensen Joe Louis Arena 13,609 38–25–16 92 L3
80 April 3 NY Rangers 0–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 10,219 39–25–16 94 W1

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1983 Stanley Cup playoffs[3]
Patrick Division Semifinals vs. (P2) New York Islanders: N.Y. Islanders won 3–1
Game Date
Time (ET)
Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Series Recap
1 April 6
8:05 p.m. EST
Washington 2–5 NY Islanders Riggin Nassau Coliseum 15,230 Islanders lead 1–0 L1
2 April 7
8:05 p.m. EST
Washington 4–2 NY Islanders Jensen Nassau Coliseum 15,150 Series tied 1–1 W1
3 April 9
1:05 p.m. EST
NY Islanders 6–2 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 18,130 Islanders lead 2–1 L1
4 April 10
7:05 p.m. EST
NY Islanders 6–3 Washington Jensen Capital Centre 18,130 Islanders win 3–1 L2

  Win   Loss

Playoffs

In the first round of the playoffs, the Capitals lost to the Islanders 3 games to 1.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Dennis Maruk C 80 31 50 81 71 -21 12 0 2
Mike Gartner RW 73 38 38 76 54 -2 10 1 3
Bobby Carpenter C 80 32 37 69 64 0 14 0 4
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson RW 67 22 42 64 16 9 2 0 4
Alan Haworth C 74 23 27 50 34 -5 5 0 2
Milan Novy C 73 18 30 48 16 1 3 0 3
Craig Laughlin RW 75 17 27 44 41 -7 5 0 3
Bobby Gould RW 80 22 18 40 43 16 0 0 6
Ken Houston RW 71 25 14 39 93 -8 9 0 0
Glen Currie C 68 11 28 39 20 18 0 0 2
Gaetan Duchesne LW 77 18 19 37 52 15 0 1 6
Greg Theberge D 70 8 28 36 20 -3 7 0 1
Rod Langway D 80 3 29 32 75 0 1 0 0
Doug Jarvis C 80 8 22 30 10 -12 0 1 0
Brian Engblom D 73 5 22 27 59 -4 4 0 0
Scott Stevens D 77 9 16 25 195 14 0 0 0
Timo Blomqvist D 61 1 17 18 67 15 1 0 1
Chris Valentine C 23 7 10 17 14 -2 1 0 1
Ted Bulley LW 39 4 9 13 47 -3 0 0 1
Randy Holt D 70 0 8 8 275 -7 0 0 0
Darren Veitch D 10 0 8 8 0 -1 0 0 0
Paul MacKinnon D 19 2 2 4 8 1 1 0 0
Torrie Robertson LW 5 2 0 2 4 -2 0 0 0
Lee Norwood D 8 0 1 1 14 -3 0 0 0
Eric Calder D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Doug Hicks D 6 0 0 0 7 -3 0 0 0
Al Jensen G 40 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0
Robbie Moore G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dave Parro G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pat Riggin G 38 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Al Jensen 2358 40 22 12 6 135 3.44 1
Pat Riggin 2161 38 16 9 9 121 3.36 0
Dave Parro 261 6 1 3 1 19 4.37 0
Robbie Moore 20 1 0 1 0 1 3.00 0
Team: 4800 80 39 25 16 276 3.45 1

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Bobby Gould RW 4 5 0 5 4 1 0 1
Glen Currie C 4 0 3 3 4 0 0 0
Gaetan Duchesne LW 4 1 1 2 4 0 0 0
Dennis Maruk C 4 1 1 2 2 0 0 0
Brian Engblom D 4 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Bobby Carpenter C 4 1 0 1 2 0 0 0
Ken Houston RW 4 1 0 1 4 0 0 0
Craig Laughlin RW 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Scott Stevens D 4 1 0 1 26 0 0 0
Bengt-Ake Gustafsson RW 4 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
Randy Holt D 4 0 1 1 20 0 0 0
Doug Jarvis C 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Greg Theberge D 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Timo Blomqvist D 3 0 0 0 16 0 0 0
Ted Bulley LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Gartner RW 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Alan Haworth C 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Al Jensen G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rod Langway D 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Milan Novy C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pat Riggin G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Valentine C 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Al Jensen 139 3 1 2 10 4.32 0
Pat Riggin 101 3 0 1 8 4.75 0
Team: 240 4 1 3 18 4.50 0

[4]

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;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 1982 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 5 Scott Stevens  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
3 58 Milan Novy  Czechoslovakia Kladno (Czechoslovakia)
5 89 Dean Evason  Canada Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
6 110 Ed Kastelic  Canada London Knights (OHL)
8 152 Wally Schreiber  Canada Regina Pats (WHL)
9 173 Jamie Reeve  Canada Saskatoon Blades (SJHL)
10 194 Juha Nurmi  Finland Tampere Tappara (Finland)
11 215 Wayne Prestage  Canada Seattle Breakers (WHL)
12 236 Jon Holden  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHL)
12 247 Marco Kallas  United States St. Louis Sting (NAJHL)

See also

References

  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "1982-83 Washington Capitals Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  4. ^ "1982-83 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.