2005–06 Washington Capitals season

The Washington Capitals season involved Alexander Ovechkin’s rookie season. Following the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Alexander Ovechkin played his first game with the Washington Capitals on October 5, 2005, scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory over Columbus. In a shootout against Anaheim, Ovechkin scored the winning goal to end the game at 5-4. The Capitals finished the 2005–06 NHL season in the cellar of the Southeastern Division again, with a 29-41-12 campaign, having 12 more points then the 2003–04 season, good for 27th out of the 30 NHL teams. Yet the team played close in every game, playing in 42 one-goal games, although losing 2/3 of those games. A notable first was that Washington area native Jeff Halpern was named captain of the hometown Capitals. At the 2006 trade deadline, March 8, Witt was traded to Nashville. Several Capitals achieved career highs in several offensive categories. Matt Pettinger and Dainius Zubrus achieved new career highs in all offensive categories. Jeff Halpern achieved a career high in assists for the second consecutive season.

Regular season
Many longtime Capitals had career years, with Dainius Zubrus netting 57 points, Halpern having a career-best 33 assists, Matt Pettinger putting in a career-best 20-goal, 38-point effort and seven others on the relatively young team topping 20 points for the first time. Two notable landmarks were also hit by Capitals, as the team's longest tenured Capital, Olaf Kolzig, won his 250th game in goal and Andrew Cassels became the 204th player to play 1,000 games, although he did not finish out his season with the team.


 * November 22, 2005 - Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin face each other for the first time
 * On January 13, 2006 in Anaheim, Ovechkin scored his first career hat trick against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to help Washington win the game. His hat trick goals went past Jean-Sebastien Giguere for his first ever hat trick game.
 * January 29, 2006 – Dainius Zubrus scored the Game Winning Goal in a 2-1 victory for the Capitals.
 * April 1, 2006 – Brent Johnson earned a shutout in a 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
 * April 7, 2006 – In a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Olaf Kolzig played his 600th game as a Washington Capitals.
 * April 13, 2006 - Alexander Ovechkin becomes the second rookie in history to record 50 goals and 100 points in a season. Teemu Selanne was the first rookie to reach the accomplishment

Alexander Ovechkin
Ovechkin's rookie season exceeded the hype, as he led all 2005-06 NHL rookies in goals, points, power-play goals and shots. He finished third overall in the NHL in scoring and tied for third in goals; and his 425 shots not only led the league, but also set an NHL rookie record and was the fourth-highest total in NHL history. Ovechkin's rookie point total was the second-best in Washington Capitals history, and his goal total was tied for third in franchise history. He had 21 power play goals and a plus-minus rating of plus 2. Ovechkin won the Calder Memorial Trophy, beating out Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby and Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf.

Regular season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

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/OT = Ties/Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

Awards and records

 * Ovechkin was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for December 2005.
 * Alexander Ovechkin, Calder Trophy

Farm Teams

 * Hershey Bears, American Hockey League
 * South Carolina Stingrays, East Coast Hockey League