2020–21 Washington Capitals season
The 2020–21 Washington Capitals season was the 47th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974. This was the first season for Peter Laviolette as head coach of the Capitals after their former head coach Todd Reirden was fired from the team on August 23, 2020. On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Capitals would play this season in the East Division and would play against only the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.
| 2020–21 Washington Capitals | |
|---|---|
| Division | 2nd East |
| 2020–21 record | 36–15–5 |
| Home record | 17–8–3 |
| Road record | 19–7–2 |
| Goals for | 191 |
| Goals against | 163 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Brian MacLellan |
| Coach | Peter Laviolette |
| Captain | Alexander Ovechkin |
| Alternate captains | Nicklas Backstrom John Carlson |
| Arena | Capital One Arena |
| Minor league affiliate(s) | Hershey Bears (AHL) South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Alexander Ovechkin (24) |
| Assists | Nicklas Backstrom (38) |
| Points | Nicklas Backstrom (53) |
| Penalty minutes | Tom Wilson (96) |
| Plus/minus | Dmitry Orlov (+16) |
| Wins | Vitek Vanecek (21) |
| Goals against average | Craig Anderson (2.13) |
On April 29, the Capitals clinched a playoff berth after a 5–4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. As a result of the Capitals winning in overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers while the Penguins won in regulation against the Buffalo Sabres on May 8, the Penguins won the East division title, and the Capitals failed to win the division for the first time since the 2014–15 season. They were eliminated from the playoffs in the First Round with a 3–1 loss to the Boston Bruins in game five on May 23.