1977–78 Washington Capitals season

1977–78 Washington Capitals · NHL
Division	5th Norris
1977–78 record	17–49–14
Goals for	195
Goals against	321
General Manager	Max McNab
Coach	Tom McVie
Captain	Yvon Labre
Team Leaders
Goals	Guy Charron (38)
Assists	Bob Sirois (37)
Points	Guy Charron (73)
Penalties in minutes	Gord Lane (195)
Wins	Jim Bedard (11)
Goals against average	Jim Bedard (3.66)
← Seasons →
1976–77	1978–79

The 1977–78 Washington Capitals season was the 4th in the franchise's history. The Capitals finished last in the Norris Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Regular Season

Final Standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Montreal Canadiens	80	59	10	11	359	183	129
Detroit Red Wings	80	32	34	14	252	266	78
Los Angeles Kings	80	31	34	15	243	245	77
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	25	37	18	254	321	68
Washington Capitals	80	17	49	14	195	321	48

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 14, 1977	2–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	1–0–0
2	L	October 15, 1977	2–4	@ Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	1–1–0
3	L	October 19, 1977	3–5	Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	1–2–0
4	L	October 24, 1977	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	1–3–0
5	W	October 26, 1977	6–2	@ Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	2–3–0
6	L	October 28, 1977	1–8	@ Colorado Rockies (1977–78)	2–4–0
7	L	October 29, 1977	4–7	@ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	2–5–0
8	T	November 2, 1977	2–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	2–5–1
9	L	November 3, 1977	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	2–6–1
10	L	November 5, 1977	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	2–7–1
11	L	November 8, 1977	1–5	Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	2–8–1
12	T	November 9, 1977	1–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	2–8–2
13	L	November 11, 1977	1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	2–9–2
14	L	November 13, 1977	0–6	New York Islanders (1977–78)	2–10–2
15	T	November 15, 1977	2–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	2–10–3
16	L	November 16, 1977	2–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	2–11–3
17	L	November 19, 1977	6–7	Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	2–12–3
18	L	November 20, 1977	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	2–13–3
19	T	November 23, 1977	2–2	Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	2–13–4
20	L	November 24, 1977	0–6	@ Boston Bruins (1977–78)	2–14–4
21	T	November 26, 1977	4–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	2–14–5
22	L	November 29, 1977	2–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	2–15–5
23	L	December 2, 1977	2–3	Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	2–16–5
24	L	December 4, 1977	2–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	2–17–5
25	L	December 6, 1977	2–5	Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	2–18–5
26	W	December 7, 1977	5–3	@ Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	3–18–5
27	L	December 10, 1977	1–5	@ Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	3–19–5
28	W	December 11, 1977	2–1	St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	4–19–5
29	L	December 13, 1977	1–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	4–20–5
30	W	December 17, 1977	2–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	5–20–5
31	T	December 21, 1977	5–5	@ New York Rangers (1977–78)	5–20–6
32	W	December 23, 1977	3–2	Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	6–20–6
33	L	December 27, 1977	3–6	Boston Bruins (1977–78)	6–21–6
34	T	December 28, 1977	2–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	6–21–7
35	T	December 30, 1977	3–3	New York Rangers (1977–78)	6–21–8
36	W	January 2, 1978	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	7–21–8
37	W	January 4, 1978	4–0	Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	8–21–8
38	T	January 7, 1978	4–4	Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	8–21–9
39	L	January 8, 1978	1–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	8–22–9
40	L	January 11, 1978	3–6	Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	8–23–9
41	T	January 13, 1978	2–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	8–23–10
42	L	January 14, 1978	0–4	New York Islanders (1977–78)	8–24–10
43	L	January 18, 1978	2–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	8–25–10
44	L	January 19, 1978	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1977–78)	8–26–10
45	W	January 21, 1978	5–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	9–26–10
46	L	January 22, 1978	3–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	9–27–10
47	T	January 25, 1978	3–3	Colorado Rockies (1977–78)	9–27–11
48	L	January 27, 1978	2–5	Boston Bruins (1977–78)	9–28–11
49	L	January 29, 1978	0–4	Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	9–29–11
50	L	January 31, 1978	2–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	9–30–11
51	L	February 1, 1978	3–8	@ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	9–31–11
52	L	February 4, 1978	1–6	@ New York Islanders (1977–78)	9–32–11
53	L	February 5, 1978	1–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	9–33–11
54	W	February 10, 1978	4–1	@ Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	10–33–11
55	L	February 12, 1978	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	10–34–11
56	L	February 14, 1978	2–4	Vancouver Canucks (1977–78)	10–35–11
57	L	February 17, 1978	2–8	Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	10–36–11
58	W	February 19, 1978	2–1	Minnesota North Stars (1977–78)	11–36–11
59	L	February 21, 1978	1–4	Los Angeles Kings (1977–78)	11–37–11
60	L	February 23, 1978	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	11–38–11
61	L	February 25, 1978	0–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	11–39–11
62	L	February 26, 1978	1–6	Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78)	11–40–11
63	W	February 28, 1978	7–4	Colorado Rockies (1977–78)	12–40–11
64	T	March 4, 1978	3–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	12–40–12
65	L	March 8, 1978	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	12–41–12
66	L	March 12, 1978	2–8	@ New York Rangers (1977–78)	12–42–12
67	L	March 15, 1978	2–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78)	12–43–12
68	W	March 18, 1978	8–3	Cleveland Barons (1977–78)	13–43–12
69	L	March 19, 1978	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1977–78)	13–44–12
70	L	March 22, 1978	2–6	Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78)	13–45–12
71	L	March 24, 1978	4–11	New York Rangers (1977–78)	13–46–12
72	L	March 25, 1978	0–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	13–47–12
73	L	March 26, 1978	1–4	Detroit Red Wings (1977–78)	13–48–12
74	T	March 28, 1978	4–4	Boston Bruins (1977–78)	13–48–13
75	W	March 30, 1978	4–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1977–78)	14–48–13
76	L	April 1, 1978	2–3	@ New York Islanders (1977–78)	14–49–13
77	T	April 2, 1978	4–4	Montreal Canadiens (1977–78)	14–49–14
78	W	April 4, 1978	4–3	Buffalo Sabres (1977–78)	15–49–14
79	W	April 8, 1978	6–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78)	16–49–14
80	W	April 9, 1978	4–2	Atlanta Flames (1977–78)	17–49–14

Playoffs

• The Capitals did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Charron, GuyGuy Charron	C	80	38	35	73	12	-25	4	0	3
Sirois, BobBob Sirois	RW	72	24	37	61	6	-11	5	0	1
Meehan, GerryGerry Meehan	C	78	19	24	43	10	-41	7	0	2
Picard, RobertRobert Picard	D	75	10	27	37	101	-26	2	0	4
Riley, BillBill Riley	RW	57	13	12	25	125	-15	5	0	0
Girard, BobBob Girard	LW	52	9	14	23	6	-3	1	0	2
Forbes, DaveDave Forbes	LW	77	11	11	22	119	-34	0	0	0
Rowe, TomTom Rowe	RW	63	13	8	21	82	-18	1	0	0
Collins, BillBill Collins	RW	74	10	9	19	18	-32	0	1	1
Bailey, GarnetGarnet Bailey	LW	40	7	12	19	28	-12	0	0	2
Green, RickRick Green	D	60	5	14	19	67	-35	4	0	1
Bragnalo, RickRick Bragnalo	C	44	2	13	15	22	-6	0	0	0
Watson, BryanBryan Watson	D	79	3	11	14	167	-12	0	1	0
Smith, GordGord Smith	D	80	4	7	11	78	-20	0	0	1
Bolonchuk, LarryLarry Bolonchuk	D	49	3	8	11	79	-19	0	0	0
Lane, GordGord Lane	D	69	2	9	11	195	-19	0	0	0
Lemieux, JeanJean Lemieux	D	16	3	7	10	0	-12	3	0	0
Lynch, JackJack Lynch	D	29	1	8	9	4	-13	0	0	0
Marson, MikeMike Marson	LW	46	4	4	8	101	1	0	0	0
Patrick, CraigCraig Patrick	RW	44	1	7	8	4	-8	1	0	0
Labre, YvonYvon Labre	D	22	0	8	8	41	0	0	0	0
Godin, EddyEddy Godin	RW	18	3	3	6	6	-14	0	0	0
Lalonde, RonRon Lalonde	C	67	1	5	6	16	-18	0	0	0
McKechnie, WaltWalt McKechnie	C	16	4	1	5	0	-14	1	0	0
Gibson, DougDoug Gibson	C	11	2	1	3	0	-3	0	0	0
Lofthouse, MarkMark Lofthouse	RW/C	18	2	1	3	8	-5	0	0	0
Bedard, JimJim Bedard	G	43	0	2	2	4	0	0	0	0
Burton, NelsonNelson Burton	LW	5	1	0	1	8	-3	0	0	0
Patey, DougDoug Patey	RW	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Stewart, BlairBlair Stewart	C	8	0	1	1	9	-3	0	0	0
White, TonyTony White	LW	1	0	0	0	0	-4	0	0	0
Smith, GaryGary Smith	G	17	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
Wolfe, BernieBernie Wolfe	G	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Bedard, JimJim Bedard	2492	43	11	23	7	152	3.66	1
Wolfe, BernieBernie Wolfe	1328	25	4	14	4	94	4.25	0
Smith, GaryGary Smith	980	17	2	12	3	68	4.16	0
Team:	4800	80	17	49	14	314	3.92	1

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

• The Capitals did not win any awards this season.

See Also

• 1977–78 NHL season

External Links

• Capitals/1978_games.html 1977–78 Washington Capitals Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-07.