1986–87 Washington Capitals season
The 1986–87 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals 13th season in the National Hockey League.
Offseason
Regular season
Final standings
Schedule and results
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.Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| D | 80 | 23 | 58 | 81 | 39 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 4 | |
| RW | 78 | 41 | 32 | 73 | 61 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | |
| D | 77 | 10 | 51 | 61 | 283 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 80 | 22 | 30 | 52 | 67 | -3 | 11 | 0 | 5 | |
| LW | 74 | 17 | 35 | 52 | 53 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| RW | 76 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 8 | -5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| RW | 78 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 74 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| LW | 67 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 184 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 73 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 41 | -19 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| C | 50 | 25 | 16 | 41 | 43 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 2 | |
| C | 40 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 20 | -1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | |
| D | 78 | 2 | 25 | 27 | 53 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 78 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 144 | -29 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| LW | 39 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 26 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| RW | 75 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 127 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 46 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 12 | -10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 22 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 21 | -7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 18 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 66 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 133 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 45 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 31 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 55 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 43 | -16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 37 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 22 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 24 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| W | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 83 | -3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 2536 | 45 | 20 | 18 | 5 | 137 | 3.24 | 0 | 1247 | 1110 | .890 | |
| 2002 | 37 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 107 | 3.21 | 0 | 930 | 823 | .885 | |
| 328 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 4.94 | 0 | 184 | 157 | .853 | |
| Team: | 4866 | 80 | 38 | 32 | 10 | 271 | 3.34 | 0 | 2361 | 2090 | .885 |
Playoffs
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| W | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 309 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1.75 | 1 | 143 | 134 | .937 | |
| 180 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 3.00 | 0 | 76 | 67 | .882 | |
| Team: | 489 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 2.21 | 1 | 219 | 201 | .918 |
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;
Awards and records
Transactions
Roster
Draft picks
Washington's draft picks at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 19 | Jeff Greenlaw | Canadian National Development Team | |
| 2 | 40 | Steve Seftel | Kingston Canadians | |
| 3 | 60 | Shawn Simpson | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | |
| 3 | 61 | Jim Hrivnak | Merrimack College | |
| 4 | 82 | Erin Ginnell | Calgary Wranglers | |
| 5 | 103 | John Purves | Hamilton Steelhawks | |
| 6 | 124 | Stefan Nilsson | Lulea HF | |
| 7 | 145 | Peter Choma | Belleville Bulls | |
| 8 | 166 | Lee Davidson | Penticton Knights | |
| 9 | 187 | Tero Toivola | Tappara | |
| 10 | 208 | Bob Babcock | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | |
| 11 | 229 | John Schratz | Amherst Ramblers | |
| 12 | 250 | Scott McCrory | Oshawa Generals | |
| S | 23 | Steve Cousins | University of Alberta |