1986–87 Washington Capitals season

NHL hockey team season March 2026 August 2023 NHL 1986–87 1986 Washington Capitals 38–32–10 22–15–3 16–17–7 Wales 4th Patrick 2nd 285 278 David Poile Bryan Murray Rod Langway Capital Centre Mike Gartner (41) Larry Murphy (58) Larry Murphy (81) Scott Stevens (283) Larry Murphy (+25) Bob Mason (20) Pete Peeters (3.22) The 1986–87 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals 13th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). 2 Regular season Final standings WAS Record vs. opponents WSH Schedule and results background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 5px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 5px solid; 1986–87 regular season1986-87 Washington Capitals Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WSH/1987_games.html Hockey-Reference.com March 22, 2025 y background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 2px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 2px solid; October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |1||L||October 9, 1986||4–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) ||0–1–0 |- |2||L||October 11, 1986||1–6 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) ||0–2–0 |- |3||W||October 13, 1986||7–6 OT|| align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1986–87) ||1–2–0 |- |4||L||October 16, 1986||4–7 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1986–87) ||1–3–0 |- |5||L||October 18, 1986||2–4 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) ||1–4–0 |- |6||W||October 20, 1986||5–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) ||2–4–0 |- |7||T||October 21, 1986||4–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) ||2–4–1 |- |8||W||October 24, 1986||8–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) ||3–4–1 |- |9||W||October 25, 1986||2–1 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1986–87) ||4–4–1 |- |10||W||October 28, 1986||5–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) ||5–4–1 |- |11||L||October 29, 1986||3–6 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) ||5–5–1 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 2px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 2px solid; November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |12||L||November 1, 1986||1–4 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1986–87) ||5–6–1 |- |13||L||November 4, 1986||1–7 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1986–87) ||5–7–1 |- |14||W||November 5, 1986||3–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) ||6–7–1 |- |15||W||November 8, 1986||3–2 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) ||7–7–1 |- |16||T||November 11, 1986||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) ||7–7–2 |- |17||T||November 12, 1986||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) ||7–7–3 |- |18||L||November 14, 1986||1–4 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) ||7–8–3 |- |19||L||November 16, 1986||2–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) ||7–9–3 |- |20||L||November 18, 1986||5–6 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) ||7–10–3 |- |21||T||November 21, 1986||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) ||7–10–4 |- |22||L||November 22, 1986||4–5 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) ||7–11–4 |- |23||T||November 26, 1986||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Boston Bruins (1986–87) ||7–11–5 |- |24||L||November 28, 1986||2–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) ||7–12–5 |- |25||L||November 29, 1986||3–4 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1986–87) ||7–13–5 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 2px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 2px solid; December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |26||W||December 1, 1986||2–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) ||8–13–5 |- |27||T||December 3, 1986||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) ||8–13–6 |- |28||W||December 6, 1986||3–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1986–87) ||9–13–6 |- |29||W||December 9, 1986||4–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1986–87) ||10–13–6 |- |30||L||December 10, 1986||2–8 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) ||10–14–6 |- |31||L||December 14, 1986||1–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1986–87) ||10–15–6 |- |32||L||December 17, 1986||1–6 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1986–87) ||10–16–6 |- |33||L||December 19, 1986||4–6 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) ||10–17–6 |- |34||W||December 20, 1986||5–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1986–87) ||11–17–6 |- |35||W||December 26, 1986||2–1 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1986–87) ||12–17–6 |- |36||L||December 28, 1986||5–7 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1986–87) ||12–18–6 |- |37||L||December 30, 1986||1–3 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1986–87) ||12–19–6 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 2px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 2px solid; January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |38||W||January 1, 1987||4–3 OT|| align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) ||13–19–6 |- |39||L||January 3, 1987||1–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) ||13–20–6 |- |40||W||January 5, 1987||6–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1986–87) ||14–20–6 |- |41||L||January 7, 1987||2–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) ||14–21–6 |- |42||W||January 9, 1987||3–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) ||15–21–6 |- |43||T||January 11, 1987||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) ||15–21–7 |- |44||L||January 13, 1987||2–3 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) ||15–22–7 |- |45||W||January 15, 1987||3–2 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1986–87) ||16–22–7 |- |46||W||January 17, 1987||6–1 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1986–87) ||17–22–7 |- |47||W||January 18, 1987||6–1 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) ||18–22–7 |- |48||W||January 20, 1987||6–3 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1986–87) ||19–22–7 |- |49||W||January 23, 1987||3–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) ||20–22–7 |- |50||L||January 24, 1987||3–6 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1986–87) ||20–23–7 |- |51||L||January 27, 1987||5–7 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) ||20–24–7 |- |52||W||January 28, 1987||2–1 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) ||21–24–7 |- |53||T||January 30, 1987||3–3 OT|| align="left"| New York Islanders (1986–87) ||21–24–8 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 2px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 2px solid; February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |54||W||February 1, 1987||6–4 || align="left"| Winnipeg Jets (1986–87) ||22–24–8 |- |55||L||February 4, 1987||2–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1986–87) ||22–25–8 |- |56||L||February 6, 1987||2–5 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1986–87) ||22–26–8 |- |57||L||February 7, 1987||4–5 OT|| align="left"| New York Rangers (1986–87) ||22–27–8 |- |58||W||February 15, 1987||5–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) ||23–27–8 |- |59||L||February 18, 1987||4–7 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) ||23–28–8 |- |60||W||February 20, 1987||6–3 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1986–87) ||24–28–8 |- |61||W||February 22, 1987||5–2 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1986–87) ||25–28–8 |- |62||W||February 24, 1987||8–2 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1986–87) ||26–28–8 |- |63||W||February 27, 1987||5–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1986–87) ||27–28–8 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 2px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 2px solid; March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |64||W||March 1, 1987||7–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1986–87) ||28–28–8 |- |65||W||March 3, 1987||3–2 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1986–87) ||29–28–8 |- |66||L||March 5, 1987||2–4 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) ||29–29–8 |- |67||L||March 7, 1987||2–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1986–87) ||29–30–8 |- |68||L||March 10, 1987||3–6 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1986–87) ||29–31–8 |- |69||W||March 13, 1987||10–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) ||30–31–8 |- |70||T||March 14, 1987||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1986–87) ||30–31–9 |- |71||L||March 17, 1987||4–5 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1986–87) ||30–32–9 |- |72||W||March 20, 1987||4–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1986–87) ||31–32–9 |- |73||W||March 22, 1987||4–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1986–87) ||32–32–9 |- |74||W||March 24, 1987||3–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1986–87) ||33–32–9 |- |75||T||March 27, 1987||2–2 OT|| align="left"| New York Islanders (1986–87) ||33–32–10 |- |76||W||March 29, 1987||4–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1986–87) ||34–32–10 |- |77||W||March 31, 1987||4–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1986–87) ||35–32–10 |- y background:#fff; border-top:#D50032 2px solid; border-bottom:#003DA5 2px solid; April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record |- |78||W||April 1, 1987||5–1 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1986–87) ||36–32–10 |- |79||W||April 4, 1987||3–2 OT|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1986–87) ||37–32–10 |- |80||W||April 5, 1987||6–5 OT|| align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1986–87) ||38–32–10 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black Playoffs The 1987 playoff Capitals run was best known for the Easter Epic, when the Caps played the longest game 7 in their franchise history through four overtime periods. Unfortunately, they lost to the New York Islanders 3–2 in that game seven and lost the series 4–3. New York Islanders Washington Capitals Nassau Coliseum Capital Centre April 8 3–4 2 April 9 3–1 1 April 11 2–0 2 April 12 4–1 2 April 14 4–2 1 April 16 4–5 1 April 18 3–2 4 1 New York won series 4–3 Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG Larry Murphy Larry Murphy (ice hockey) D 80 23 58 81 3925804 Mike Gartner RW 78 41 32 73 6115610 Scott Stevens D 77 10 51 61 28313200 Craig Laughlin RW 80 22 30 52 67-31105 Gaetan Duchesne LW 74 17 35 52 5318014 Dave Christian RW 76 23 27 50 8-5502 Bobby Gould Bobby Gould (ice hockey) RW 78 23 27 50 7418112 Greg Adams Greg Adams (ice hockey b. 1960) LW 67 14 30 44 1849200 Michal Pivoňka C 73 18 25 43 41-19402 Alan Haworth ice hockey C 50 25 16 41 433902 Mike Ridley C 40 15 19 34 20-1603 Rod Langway D 78 2 25 27 5311001 Kevin Hatcher D 78 8 16 24 144-29102 Kelly Miller Kelly Miller (ice hockey b. 1963) LW 39 10 12 22 2610310 Lou Franceschetti RW 75 12 9 21 127-9001 David Jensen ice hockey, born 1965 C 46 8 8 16 12-10200 Bobby Carpenter Bobby Carpenter (ice hockey) C 22 5 7 12 21-7400 Garry Galley D 18 1 10 11 103100 John Blum D 66 2 8 10 1331000 Greg Smith Greg Smith (ice hockey) D 45 0 9 9 31-6000 John Barrett ice hockey D 55 2 2 4 43-16000 Pete Peeters G 37 0 4 4 160000 Gary Sampson Gary Sampson (ice hockey) LW 25 1 2 3 4-9000 Jeff Greenlaw LW 22 0 3 3 442000 Yvon Corriveau LW 17 1 1 2 24-4000 Ed Kastelic W 23 1 1 2 83-3100 Paul Cavallini D 6 0 2 2 8-4000 Stephen Leach RW 15 1 0 1 6-4000 Yves Beaudoin D 6 0 0 0 5-4000 Bob Crawford Bob Crawford (ice hockey, born 1959) RW 12 0 0 0 00000 Al Jensen G 6 0 0 0 00000 Grant Martin LW 9 0 0 0 4-1000 Bob Mason ice hockey G 45 0 0 0 00000 Jim Thomson Jim Thomson (ice hockey b. 1965) RW 10 0 0 0 35-2000 Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LTGAGAA SOSASVSV% Bob Mason ice hockey 2536 45 20 18 5 137 3.24 012471110.890 Pete Peeters 2002 37 17 11 4 107 3.21 0930823.885 Al Jensen 328 6 1 3 1 27 4.94 0184157.853 Team: 4866 80 38 32 10 271 3.34 023612090.885 Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG Mike Gartner RW 7 4 3 7 14000 Scott Stevens D 7 0 5 5 19000 Kelly Miller Kelly Miller (ice hockey b. 1963) LW 7 2 2 4 0000 Larry Murphy Larry Murphy (ice hockey) D 7 2 2 4 6001 Greg Adams Greg Adams (ice hockey b. 1960) LW 7 1 3 4 38100 Dave Christian RW 7 1 3 4 6001 Gaetan Duchesne LW 7 3 0 3 14000 Mike Ridley C 7 2 1 3 6001 Bobby Gould Bobby Gould (ice hockey) RW 7 0 3 3 8000 Alan Haworth ice hockey C 6 0 3 3 7000 Michal Pivonka C 7 1 1 2 2000 Kevin Hatcher D 7 1 0 1 20000 Ed Kastelic W 5 1 0 1 13100 Grant Martin LW 1 1 0 1 2000 John Blum D 6 0 1 1 4000 Rod Langway D 7 0 1 1 2000 Lou Franceschetti RW 7 0 0 0 23000 Garry Galley D 2 0 0 0 0000 David Jensen ice hockey, born 1965 C 7 0 0 0 2000 Craig Laughlin RW 1 0 0 0 0000 Bob Mason ice hockey G 4 0 0 0 0000 Pete Peeters G 3 0 0 0 2000 Greg Smith Greg Smith (ice hockey) D 7 0 0 0 11000 Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LGAGAA SOSASVSV% Bob Mason ice hockey 309 4 2 2 9 1.75 1143134.937 Pete Peeters 180 3 1 2 9 3.00 07667.882 Team: 489 7 3 4 18 2.21 1219201.918 hockey-reference.com 2009-06-01 1986-87 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WSH/1987.html 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; SA=Shots against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; Draft picks Washington's draft picks at the 1986 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal. Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)119Jeff GreenlawCanadaCanadian National Development Team240Steve SeftelCanadaKingston Canadians (OHL)360Shawn SimpsonCanadaSault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)361Jim HrivnakCanadaMerrimack College (Hockey East)482Erin GinnellCanadaCalgary Wranglers (WHL)5103John PurvesCanadaHamilton Steelhawks (OHL)6124Stefan NilssonSwedenLuleå HF (Sweden)7145Peter ChomaCanadaBelleville Bulls (OHL)8166Lee DavidsonCanadaPenticton Knights (BCHL)9187Tero ToivolaTappara (Finland)10208Bob BabcockCanadaSault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)11229John SchratzCanadaAmherst Ramblers (MVLHL)12250Scott McCroryCanadaOshawa Generals (OHL)S222Steve CousinsCanadaUniversity of Alberta (CIAU) See also 1986–87 NHL season References Wash Category:Washington Capitals seasons Washing Washing