So Close: Ch. 7 – 2nd Third of the Season

After looking back at the move the Washington Capitals made from the Capital Centre to the MCI Center, they entered the second third of the 1997-98 season.

December

The Washington Capitals kicked off the month of December with a battle against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The December 2nd matchup saw the Capitals defeat the Rangers 3-2 in overtime thanks to forward Joe Juneau’s goal, his first in more than a month which ended the Capitals’ winless streak at three.

“To have a good start and be in the top of the league in scoring and then get hurt, it was tough to take,” Juneau said. “This was a year where I didn’t want to miss any games. Then, I came back, and the muscle was fine to play, but I just haven’t been lucky at all. I’ve had some good chances myself, created some good plays and I’ve tried to be part of a second line that could help our team offensively. But it wasn’t getting the result.”

“It’s a big monkey off his back,” coach Ron Wilson said. “He’s been pressing, and this is the kind of thing that’s perfect. It’s like a Hollywood script to score the overtime winner, and by being where he hasn’t been enough — winning a battle in front of the net. It was a hard-working goal from the faceoff; we were getting our noses dirty and it resulted in a win.”

“When I got hurt, and me and Adam [Oates] were definitely not playing our best hockey,” Juneau said. “When I came back I started on the fourth line, and I didn’t mind at all, because they had to test how I would feel. Now, [Steve Konowalchuk] has been back and forth on my line, and I like playing with him a lot. Jeff [Toms] has been playing some very good hockey games, and it’s a line that has some size and speed. But we haven’t been the luckiest lately. When things don’t go well, sometimes you get away from the things you do normally. There were times I went to the front of the net, ready to battle and then the puck wouldn’t get there, bouncing the other way. Last night it finally bounced my way.”

On December 5th, the Capitals opened up their new home (which you can read about in Chapter 6: A New Home), but they would need to do it without their superstar forward Peter Bondra. He missed the game due to an ankle injury, which also kept him out of the lineup for the previous game against the Rangers. Bondra bruised the ankle when he was hit by a puck a week prior during a game, but had been playing until he got hit on the same ankle during a practice. Bondra deemed that the ankle was too sore to play on against the Rangers. 

“If it’s sore, he can’t skate and his whole game is skating,” Wilson said. “We’d rather err on the side of being conservative and worry about Friday night with our new building opening.”

“I was excited to play — this isn’t something that happens every day,” Bondra said. “I’m happy to see the new building but sad at the same time. But you have to be smart; it’s better to make a mistake by being too careful.”

“He’s one of the best goal scorers in the league, so we have to play a harder, smarter game without him,” Konowalchuk said. “We can’t count on his goal a game anymore, so other guys have to contribute.”

On December 7th, the Capitals headed down to Florida for a matchup with the Panthers, where goalie Bill Ranford would start in an effort to re-establish himself between the pipes. “Up until my [shoulder surgery] last year, I played more games than any goalie in the league in the last six years,” Ranford said. “When you play a lot, you find a way to get in a groove, and when you struggle, you can play through it. But it’s tough when you don’t get an opportunity to play that much to let alone try and find your game, much less when you find it try to hone it in practices. It’s tough to do.”

“I think if Olie [Kolzig] wasn’t playing so well, he’d have a problem with it, but Olie’s been arguably one of the top three goalies in the league, so Billy understands the situation,” Wilson said. “He’s struggled in some games, and he’s been behind the eight-ball because of injuries. He’s frustrated because he hasn’t been as sharp as he thinks he could be, but it’s just a matter of working hard.”

“It’s very hard,” Ranford said. “I haven’t played, I haven’t been able to get into any sort of rhythm, and you have to hope that it just comes back. You can only do so much in practice, but the speed of the game and the pressure and the way your focus changes, it’s a whole different ballgame.”

“It’s tough for Billy to get in there and relax,” Wilson said. “When you’re perceived as the second goalie, it’s a different feeling of pressure. A goalie has enough on his mind besides worrying about being a number two goalie. He has just to go out there and focus on the puck, and hopefully everything will fall into place.”

The Panthers won 5-4 against the Capitals thanks to forward Steve Washburn’s goal with only three minutes left in regulation. The goal was Washburn’s second of the game. The Capitals got a pair of goals from forward Richard Zednik, and Joe Juneau and Jeff Toms also scored for the Capitals in the loss. Ranford made 18 saves on 23 shots faced and would bring his record to 1-6-1.

On December 10th, the Capitals traveled to San Jose for a matchup with the Sharks. For the Capitals, forward Peter Bondra returned and scored the tying goal with 29 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Capitals the 3-3 tie with the Sharks. Despite getting the tie, coach Ron Wilson was not pleased with his team’s effort. “We were lucky to get the point, to be honest,” Wilson said. “They played a solid game, and we were sporadic. Adam Oates’s line played great, but in a lot of other areas, we struggled.”

Two days later, the Capitals continued their road trip with a matchup against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. This was a kind of homecoming for Wilson, who was fired by the Ducks back in May of 1997. “It’s a big deal, but it’s not a big deal,” Wilson said. “Obviously I want to beat them, but that’s about where it lies. It’s Southern California; it’s not like going to Montreal. They’ll be asking about the Olympics and they’ll ask why I got fired, rehashing all that, but I’m more interested in getting there and going home and seeing my wife and daughter Lauren.”

Wilson’s wife and daughter had remained in Anaheim so that Lauren could finish her final year of high school and joined him after graduation in Annapolis Maryland. 

When it came to the game against the Ducks, Wilson expressed interest in one thing. “The only thing I want to see if they’re allowed to put my face on the scoreboard like that,” Wilson said,  referring to Vancouver Canucks coach Mike Keenan’s appearance on the jumbotron in St. Louis, where he coached the previous season, and was booed venomously. However, Wilson was aware that he could garner cheers instead of boos because of his popularity in Anaheim, much to the annoyance of Ducks’ management.. “Because of that, I don’t think you’ll see my face on the scoreboard all night. Who Knows, though, maybe I will get booed. Really, the truth is people don’t care. What you take personally before, you don’t anymore. Hey, I’m better off now, so I’m glad they [fired] me. Change is good.”

At Arrowhead Pond, Wilson’s return, however, was spoiled by Paul Kariya’s season debut for the Mighty Ducks. Kariya recorded two goals and two assists for four points in a 6-4 victory over the Capitals. “We had one of our best first periods in a long time; we wanted to win the game for Ron and [assistant coach Tim Army],” goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. “But we didn’t, and we’re sorry for it. When we have a lead like that, we have to play a little tighter.”

The next night in Los Angeles, the Capitals faced the Kings. The Capitals looked like they were on their way to victory but Kings forward Steve McKenna scored with 28.6 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at two. The tie left the Capitals winless in their past four games (0-2-2). Also, the Capitals lost forward Joe Juneau to a knee injury after Kings forward Sandy Moger slammed his right knee into Juneau’s. Juneau flew into the air and landed hard on the ice, and lay there for several minutes while being treated by the team trainer Stan Wong. Moger received a five-minute major for clipping and a game misconduct.

“That was as cheap a shot as you can administer in this game,” general manager George McPhee said. “Here’s a guy [Juneau] who’s trying to curl back to the bench at the end of his shift, and it was the second time on the shift that Moger went after him. If the referees don’t write up a report, we’ll send it to the league. It just shows a total disrespect for another athlete’s welfare.”

“That’ll go into the league — that’s a gutless play,” Wilson said. He then referred to Capitals winger Chris Simon’s suspension the previous month for using a racial slur. “You say a bad word, and that’s inexcusable — you get three games. You knee someone, you could put them out for a year, and what are you going to get, three games?”

“It felt like my leg was broken; it was the most pain I’ve ever felt,” Juneau said. “It was just crazy the amount of pain I felt on the ice, and it’s pretty scary because you don’t know what it can be — a broken bone, a torn ligament. It all happened so quickly, you can’t get out of the way. It was the second time on the same shift there was a knee-to-knee attempt. I got out of the first one, but a few seconds later . . . I couldn’t get out of the way.”

After the four-game road trip, the Capitals played nine of their next ten at home. “We’re in a position now where we’ve survived the first [33 games] in pretty good shape, considering injuries and a heavy road schedule,” noted Wilson. “With this homestand, we can really put ourselves in a great position for the second half of the season. We can’t take anything for granted because we’re at home. I’ve gone through this before on the West Coast, where you get used to being gone, and there’s a natural tendency to let down and just assume that you’re at home, and you stop doing the things we need to do. We need to come out in the first five minutes {tonight} and set the tone.”

On December 17th, the Capitals played host to the New York Islanders to kick off their homestand, and they got the same result as their last game, tying the Islanders 2-2. “I went with the same guys who have been dropping the ball and we were a little more focused,” Wilson said. “But we’ve never really dropped the ball at home, we’ve done it on the road when the other team feels good. We seem to be much more confident here.”

“It can be frustrating at home,” defenseman Brendan Witt explained. “I don’t think we mind ties on the road, but we’re here for a good long time, and we want to put a streak together. At least we’re not losing. We will take the ties; it’s still a point. And at least in our division, every point counts.”

On December 18th, the Capitals’ woes continued again against the Florida Panthers. The Panthers would blank the Capitals 4-0 in front of about 7,500 fans (10,414 tickets were sold) in attendance at the MCI Center. “It would be nice to have crowds like in Philadelphia or some other rinks, but the reality is that it’s not going to be like that here,” forward Steve Konowalchuk said. “But that’s not an excuse. We have to play for each other and go out and play hard and battle all the time, and we didn’t do that.”

“I’m just going to tear this one up, throw the tape out and say it’s one of those nights you have once or twice a year where nothing went right and we looked dead tired, emotionally and physically,” explained coach Ron Wilson. “We’re not even going to practice [today], because there’s no point reinforcing bad habits.”

Two days later, the Capitals played a rare road game during their extended homestand on their visit to the Carolina Hurricanes. Against the Hurricanes, goaltender Bill Ranford allowed one goal on 25 shots, and forward Steve Konowalchuk scored the game-winning goal late in the third period to give the Capitals a 2-1 victory.

“Yearlong slumps and we both got out of them,” Ranford said. “The first one of the year feels good to get under my belt. I did win one other game, but I only played a period [before getting injured.] It’s been tough.”

“It feels unbelievably good,” Konowalchuk said after scoring his third of the season, and first since Halloween. “It’s only one; in the big picture of things it doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it sure does feel good.”

“They both got some relief tonight, which is great because they are both great guys and things haven’t gone their way,” coach Ron Wilson added. “Billy’s struggled more; Kono plays well, he just hasn’t been able to score. That guy was great for Billy and his confidence. We played pretty well in front of him, but he had to make some big saves and he did.”

Prior to the win in Carolina, Wilson gave the players a day of rest before playing the Hurricanes. “I try to remember what it was like to be a player — you don’t feel good and you’re tired of getting whipped,” Wilson said. “It’s funny — everybody expects professional athletes to work every single day because they make a lot of money. There are not many professions where you work every single day. You need a day off every once in a while. If you are not having a good week at work, you usually get the weekend off. That was our thinking here.”

“Our team was tired,” general manager George McPhee noted. “We all felt the effects of coming back from the California trip. Just talking to the coaches, we had that tiredness and the headaches you get from being dehydrated, and we’re not even playing. It catches up to you. The good news is that you can turn it around pretty quickly.”

On December 23rd, the Capitals returned home to face the New Jersey Devils, and both teams only mustered one goal each for a 1-1 tie. Bill Ranford started his second game in a row and stopped 23 of 24 shots faced. “It was one of our better games this year,” Wilson said. “We played hard for 65 minutes. Martin Brodeur was great. He was definitely the difference for the Devils in them getting a point. We deserved better than just one, but we’ll take it. We competed. We were down going into the third period, tied up the game and kept going.”

The game was also noteworthy for forward and captain Dale Hunter. Playing in his 1,300th career NHL game, Hunter assisted on Kelly Miller’s goal to tie the game at one.

After taking some additional time off for the holidays, the Capitals hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 26th. However, for the Capitals it did not go well as the bounces went against them in a 4-1 loss to the Penguins. “I think we have to start working harder all around the ice,” defenseman Sylvain Cote said. “We have to want it a lot more. We have to be pesky, we have to play with more determination, more grit.”

The next night the Capitals hosted the Ottawa Senators, and once again the Capitals would fail to produce any scoring as the Senators shut out the Capitals 3-0. Senators goaltender Ron Tugnutt stopped all 31 shots faced and backstopped the Senators in all six of their consecutive victories over the Capitals. “He’s had a strong season, but whenever we play the Caps we see his best,” said Senators coach Jaques Martin. “I don’t know what the reasons are, and I don’t care what the reasons are. All I care about is the performance.”

After losing back-to-back games, coach Ron Wilson put his team on blast, especially the veterans on the team. “We just don’t handle adversity very well, and we need better leadership, especially from our veteran guys,” Wilson said. “When you look at our stats over the last 15 games, it’s not the younger people who have let us down, it’s the older people on this team. We need better leadership from our veterans; it’s as simple as that. We’re passengers in someone else’s car, and we need to get behind the wheel ourselves.

“When you don’t get rewarded for your hard work, sometimes it gets very frustrating for the players and they don’t know which direction to turn,” Wilson continued. “We just don’t seem to understand that by continuing to work hard and persevere, good things are going to happen.”

On December 29th, the Capitals continued their homestand with a visit from the St. Louis Blues. After giving up the first goal to the Blues in the opening minutes, the Capitals forwards Dale Hunter, Andrew Brunette, Richard Zednik, and Adam Oates each scored to guide the Capitals to the 4-2 victory over the Blues.

“A lot of people in the stands were probably going ‘Oh, here we go again,’” goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. “But we have a lot of confidence in this hockey team. We know a lot of guys can put the puck in the net and we proved it.”

Kolzig, had 14 career wins in three seasons with the Capitals coming into the 1997-98 season, and with that win, he earned his 15th of the season. “We had a lot of hockey left, so I wasn’t too concerned about getting [win No. 15],” Kolzig said. “The biggest thing was that we needed to start winning, definitely at home. We have to establish some sort of atmosphere for other teams. When they come here, we want them to feel it’s not going to be an easy game.”

To end the month of December, the Capitals went 4-5-4 for 12 points.

January

To kick off the new year, the Washington Capitals hosted the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for a New Year’s Day matchup. The Mighty Ducks coughed up a two-goal lead to the Capitals in the second period and forward Adam Oates scored with 32 seconds left in regulation to give the Capitals the 3-2 victory. “We’ve got to build some confidence and momentum at home, and I think we are well on our way to doing that,” coach Ron Wilson said. “We did a great job today.”

“They [the Ducks] got a big jump early… but as the game went on, especially in the second period, we were physically dominant,” Wilson continued. “We had our muckers and grinders really finishing their checks. I’m talking Dale Hunter, Kelly Miller. As we started to take control physically, the rest of the game fell in.”

When asked about getting the win over his former team Wilson said “It’s rewarding. I guess everything’s a wash now.”

After 41 games, the Capitals were 18-15-8, on a modest 2-game winning streak, and unfortunately, a lot of injuries. At the halfway point of the season the Capitals had lost 225 man-games to injury, putting them on pace to shatter the previous season’s 361.

At this same point last season, the Capitals were 17-20-4 and coming off of a disastrous December, but a major difference between the previous season and the current season was that the Capitals were scoring more. “In terms of playing a different style this year, the way it’s turned out is that some guys have been more confident and gotten to relax a little out there,” defenseman Ken Klee said. “But really, the game is just tight now all around, and you see 0-0 and 1-1 scores all the time. No matter how we try to play, the other teams are not going to let you freewheel out there and go about your business with all offense, because if you do, they’ll hammer you.”

“It’s just been real quick, especially with our schedule, which had so many road games in the first half,” explained forward Kelly Miller. “When you play almost every other day, you don’t get a lot of time to think about how it’s going or to dwell on everything.”

On January 3rd, 1998, the Capitals hosted the New York Rangers, and after taking a two-goal lead into the second period, Rangers Forward Wayne Gretzky scored a pair of goals to lead the Rangers to a 3-2 comeback victory over the Capitals.

“As we tend to do way too often, we lost our discipline and our focus on the way we have to play and started cheating and taking shortcuts,” defenseman Mark Tinordi said. “As a result, we have no chances, no shots, no goals and the other team takes the play to us. The good teams in the league play disciplined and they win because they have 20 guys playing the same way, and their talent wins out in the end. If we don’t have 20 guys pulling the same rope the same way every time, we’re just going to spin our wheels like this — one good period and two bad ones.”

As a result of the loss, coach Ron Wilson ran a 90-minute practice the next day. “I’m not happy with the inconsistencies in our play,” Wilson said. “Some guys give more effort in practice than they do in a game. If the only thing I can control is how hard we work in practice, then I’ll do that until guys figure out they control how hard they work in a game. If we don’t want to work for 60 minutes in a game, I’ll make sure we will work 60 minutes in practice until people sort things out.”

On January 6th, the Capitals hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs, and in the first period defenseman Calle Johansson and forwards Mike Eagles, Andrew Brunette, and Todd Krygier scored 4 goals, giving the Capitals the lead. The Leafs managed one goal per period, but Johansson’s second goal of the game during the second period gave the Capitals the 5-3 victory.

“When you get four goals like that, it’s tough to stay focused, but generally we did,” Wilson said. “We had plenty of scoring chances, which I liked, and lots of shots on goal, which I liked, and we forechecked.”

“We were able to hold onto the lead and win the game, and that’s the most important thing,” Johansson said. “We’ve been struggling after being up in the first period, and we were talking in the dressing room to keep playing smart, remember how we got the lead and not change the game plan or anything. We played really badly in the last game, so it was more pride this time, that we really wanted to show each other that we could do it, and I think we did.”

Forward Adam Oates assisted on all four first-period goals tying a team record and falling one short of tying an NHL record. “It’s not the first time this year something like that happened, but obviously it’s welcome to jump out of the gate like that,” Oates said. “It was one of those strange, strange nights. I wish it could happen every night.”

On January 8th, the Capitals traveled up to New York to face off with the Rangers again, and forward Peter Bondra would break out of a month-long, goal-scoring slump as he recorded a hat trick in a 5-3 comeback victory for the Capitals over the Rangers. “It was a great victory in a special place like Madison Square Garden,” Bondra said. “The key was that we stayed in the game after 40 minutes, we kept going until 60 minutes, and we finally, finally turned around the game and won in the third period. It felt great.”

“It’s a long time coming,” Wilson said. “We’ve had a couple of opportunities where it almost happened. If you’re behind and down a goal, you have to score two, and it’s tough to score two goals in 60 minutes. That’s why I was so disappointed losing to the Rangers last week when we allowed them to beat us by two goals in a period. I could just see the focus [tonight]. We’ve done a couple of things with our lineup and sent some messages to certain people. We’re playing for keeps from here on in. Whoever plays best is going to play, no matter who they are, and the right people responded tonight.”

On January 9th, the Capitals hosted their longtime rival the Philadelphia Flyers, and it was a second period outburst by forward and captain Dale Hunter to lead the Capitals to the 4-1 victory. Hunter assisted on all three goals scored in the second period and earned his 1,000th career NHL point.

On January 11th, the Capitals faced one of their toughest tests as they traveled to Detroit for a matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings. “This will be a tough game for us,” coach Ron Wilson said. “It’ll be our fourth game in six nights, so it’ll be a tough test for our older players. We’re playing a team that’s done it. They’re the Stanley Cup winners, and they’ve played very well this year.”

“We’re playing good hockey and we want to keep it going,” said forward Craig Berube. “We want to go in there and show them who the Caps are. We have a lot to prove.”

In the game, goaltender Olaf Kolzig played an outstanding game for the Capitals, but he gave up a crucial goal 6:13 into the third period to give the Red Wings the 1-0 lead. An empty netter for the Wings gave them the 2-0 victory over the Capitals. Kolzig made 37 saves on 38 shots faced in the loss.

“Olie was unbelievable. Unbelievable,” forward Steve Konowalchuk said. “I really thought we could win the game because he played so well, but we couldn’t get him a goal. We stood around watching too much. It seemed like we were mesmerized with them a little bit. Maybe we gave them a little too much respect being the Stanley Cup champions and because we don’t play them too much. I don’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter what I did — the bottom line is we lost,” Kolzig said. “I thought that was my best game I played in a long time, but when we went on this winning streak, I didn’t think I was playing my best hockey, so sometimes you play great and lose and sometimes play bad and win. I don’t know if we were intimidated by them because we hadn’t beaten them in [five games], or if it was because they were the Stanley Cup champions, but they play their system so well, they didn’t give us too many chances.”

Looking to rebound, the Capitals returned home to faceoff with the Ottawa Senators and see if they could solve their goaltender Ron Tugnutt. And solve him they did. Forward Andrew Brunette scored a pair of goals and forwards Steve Konowalchuk and Peter Bondra also scored to give the Capitals the 4-0 victory. Goalie Olaf Kolzig stopped all 24 shots faced to earn the shutout, his second of the season.

“Tugnutt’s played so well against us, and it’s good to finally let him know how we’ve been feeling,” forward Todd Krygier said. “We came out strong from the start.”

Since being recalled from the minors, Brunette has scored eight goals in eight games. “He’s Johnny on the Spot,” coach Ron Wilson said. “He knows where to be. He’s not a great skater — sometimes you actually wince from the bench — but he’s always in the right place at the right time.”

“Adam [Oates] is phenomenal,” Brunette said. “In the third period, he gave me some beautiful chances, but I think I was trying a little too hard. He sees the ice so well.”

After the game, the Capitals received a special visit from owner Abe Pollin, who offered his congratulations. “It’s great to see a win, great to see a shutout,” Pollin said. “I’m proud of my guys.”

On January 15th, Andrew Brunette continued his hot streak as he scored the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. “We had a lot of great chances on our line, and to get one in late in the game felt real good,” Brunette said. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it 100 times, I’m very lucky. There are a lot of hockey players in the minors that haven’t gotten the opportunity that I’ve had.”

“They [the Blackhawks] didn’t have much energy, so we were fortunate about that,” Wilson said. “It took us a while to figure out where to shoot on [goaltender Andrei Trefilov]. We put a lot of pucks along the ice right at him where he’s very strong, so we had to get some rebounds or get the puck upstairs, and we managed to do that later.”

The game against the Blackhawks was the Capitals’ last as they head into the All-Star break. “We’ll go into the All-Star break and get some rest, and in the second half here we can come out and gain some ground,” forward Craig Berube said. “You never know what might happen. We might win the division. It’s important to get home-ice advantage, and we all think we have a good enough team.”

On January 21st, the Capitals returned from the All-Star break with a battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Ice Palace. The Lightning struck first with a pair of goals in the second period, but a pair of goals from All-Star forward Peter Bondra tied the game at two, and forced overtime. Bondra’s second goal also marked his 30th of the season. In overtime forward Kelly Miller scored to complete the comeback for the Capitals. “You don’t really think there, you just try to get it off as quickly as possible,” Miller said. “That’s basically how you beat goalies today — they are so big and so good you really have to get off the shot quick, and that’s what I did. The game is on the line and you’ve worked hard and you’re in the extra period and it just feels a little extra sweet when you can score one of those.”

“They’ve [Tampa] made a lot of changes, and we expected them to come out really hard and aggressive at the beginning and we’d have to weather the storm,” coach Ron Wilson said. “I thought in the first period we did that, but then we came out in the second pretty passive and we dug ourselves a hole because we were playing loose in our own end. Then we didn’t score on {a second-period} power play but we scored right after it, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.”

On January 25th, the Capitals hosted a Super Bowl Day matchup with the Boston Bruins at the MCI Center. Forward Joe Juneau returned to the lineup for the Capitals as they continued to get healthier. For goaltender Bill Ranford though, this game was his vindication against the team that traded him the previous season as the Capitals defeated the Bruins 4-1. “It’s huge for me just to get into a game, win or lose, but it was nice to win,” said Ranford, recorded an assist on Bondra’s empty-net goal. “There’s a little bit of butterflies going into the game but I’ve been working hard in practice.”

“We weren’t as sharp as I would like us to be, but Billy certainly was and that’s great for his confidence,” Wilson said. “It’s great for everyone else on the team to see him play like that because that will build everyone’s confidence in him as well. You feel a confidence. For me, you usually watch a game for five minutes and you get a feel for what’s going to happen, and even when they scored a goal in the first period, I felt we were pretty much playing the kind of game that we have been lately.”

The next day the Capitals traveled up to New York to face once again the Rangers. Both Bondra and forward Andrew Brunette scored for the Capitals in the 2-2 tie. “It was a pretty boring game; there was a lot of clutching and grabbing,” defenseman Brendan Witt said. “I wish we could have picked up the tempo, but we were able to get it done when we needed to, and after playing [Sunday] afternoon, getting a tie on the road isn’t too bad.”

“I think you saw a difference without [defenseman] Brian Leetch in the lineup; the Rangers didn’t have the same offensive flare,” Wilson said. “They didn’t have a defensemen joining the play as they normally would, and I think that reflected on their low shot total. I thought we played pretty well, although we had a couple of moments where we went to sleep and they were able to take advantage.”

On January 28th, the Capitals hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins for their second straight 2-2 tie. Both Adam Oates and Peter Bondra had a goal and an assist for two points, and Andrew Brunette assisted on both of Oates and Bondra’s goals.

“It was a situation where we carried the play at times and they put a lot of pressure on us as well,” Penguins defenseman Kevin Hatcher said. “It was a pretty equal game, a hard-fought game. I guess with the way we scored, with 2 1/2 minutes left, you could say we should be happy stealing the point, but if you look at the big picture, it was a pretty solid game.”

To close out the month of January, the Capitals visited the Philadelphia Flyers, and they would get the 3-2 overtime victory from an unlikely hero in forward Michal Pivonka who scored two goals, including the overtime winner. “I haven’t had too many shots lately,” Pivonka said. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to get two every game now, but obviously it’s going to help my confidence. There’s so much pressure on our first line to score that any time any of us chip in some goals, it’s just going to help the team.”

“To come out of here with two points is certainly big for us,” coach Ron Wilson said. “It gets us another step closer to the Flyers, and keeps us believing in ourselves and keeps our streak going. Pivo did some things with the puck aggressively that he hasn’t been doing, taking it to the net like the last goal and shooting like he did on the tying goal.”

The Capitals were 9-2-2 for 20 points in January.

Capitals Lose Chris Simon for Remainder of Regular Season

Left winger Chris Simon injured his shoulder against the Florida Panthers on December 18th, 1997, and he played against the Carolina Hurricanes two days later but hadn’t played since.

On January 5th, 1998, Simon, who had been playing through shoulder pain for months before aggravating the injury further, received a second opinion and was diagnosed with a separated shoulder that required surgery. “This was a very unfortunate situation, but [Capitals General Manager] George McPhee, the coaching staff and the organization have supported my decision to have the surgery,” Simon said in a statement. “I wish I could have played through the season, but my medical advisers believe that I couldn’t continue to play at the NHL level in my condition.”

“These are the things that are out of your control,” McPhee said. “We had to do what was in the best interest of the player, rather than having him play in pain and really not be able to make a substantial contribution.”

Andrei Nikolishin Debuts

On January 5th, the Capitals announced the return of forward Andrei Nikolishin. Nikolishin tore several knee ligaments during the World Championships in the Spring of 1997 and had surgery immediately. Nikolishin worked for almost eight months to get on the ice at MCI Center for the Capitals’ 5-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While he did not record any points in the game, Nikolishin played 18 shifts for a total of 16 minutes and 27 seconds. “It [his left knee] felt good,” Nikolishin said. “It was a little tired in the third period, but that’s okay. I had good partners in Peter Bondra and Richard Zednik, and they helped me.”

“He looked good, although he’s a little slow sometimes when he has to turn. But I saw lots of good things. He’s very strong on his feet and he knows his way around his own end’” coach Ron Wilson said. “He also has to get confidence with his knee because that’s always going to be in the back of his mind. He’s going to have setbacks, too. I’ve seen lots of players, including my own daughter, coming off [anterior cruciate] reconstruction. You end up with swelling and stiffness. You have to be determined and fight your way through the adversity.”

Bondra’s New Deal

On January 16th, the Washington Capitals and forward Peter Bondra agreed to a new four-year contract that would pay Bondra between $13 million and $14 million. The new deal also replaced the five-year contract Bondra signed in the fall of 1995. The new contract locks up Bondra through the 2000-01 season.

“It’s against my better judgment to renegotiate contracts, but this was open when I arrived,” general manager George McPhee said. “It was vital to me to get that extra year because to renegotiate, a player has to give something up to get something back.”

“All I have to do now is concentrate on hockey; I won’t have anything else in my head,” Bondra said. “I thought we fought on the fourth year pretty good. George gave me a hard time, but I had to give up something to get something, and I think we’re pretty even. We’re happy, hopefully the team is, and I am especially.”

A New Look

On December 10th, the Washington Capitals announced that they were introducing a new third jersey after the NHL All-Star break. “It looks good,” McPhee said. “I got involved too late to make more than one change, so I wish I had a little more time with it, but people should be happy with it.”

The new jersey will be black with the team’s Capitol Dome secondary logo on the chest and the iconic screaming eagle on the shoulders. The names and numbers were bronze/copper with a blue and white trim. The new jersey was part of the NHL’s third jersey program that at the time about a half-dozen teams were participating in.

On January 21st, the Capitals announced that their new alternate jersey would debut on January 25th against the Boston Bruins. The Capitals also announced that they would wear the jerseys on February 25th, March 5th, March 7th, March 20th, March 31st, April 6th, and April 14th. The players also wore the jerseys during a season ticket holder event at the MCI Center before making their in-game debut.

On January 25th, 1998, the Capitals debuted their new alternate jerseys in a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. The game marked the first time in franchise history the Capitals wore an alternate jersey during a season.

“It’s one of the best third jerseys I’ve seen around the league,” defenseman Joe Reekie said. “I like the color scheme, and I think it’s a nice change for the fans.”

February

To start off February, the Capitals would only play three games before the Olympic break. Their first game took place on February 1st as the Capitals hosted the defending Stanley Cup champion the Detroit Red Wings, who visited the White House the day before. After a scoreless first period, the Capitals got goals from defenseman Sergei Gonchar and forward Adam Oates for a 2-1 lead. However, a three-goal third period would give the Red Wings the 4-2 victory over the Capitals.

“The puck took some weird bounces,” coach Ron Wilson said. “I thought in the first four or five minutes of the third period we turned the puck over far too many times, and against a team as good as Detroit that’s going to lead to bad things happening. We didn’t finish them off when we had those opportunities — we had a couple of breakaways in the second period. We had a couple of power plays where their goalie made some outstanding stops, and that ended up being the difference in the game.”

“We really feel good about our game,” goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. “We’ve got to learn from this game. We can’t let it affect us to the point where it’s going to haunt us for the rest of the season.”

A day after the loss to the Red Wings, Wilson watched back the game tape and remained unshaken by the result. “I don’t think we played that badly,” Wilson said. “The first time you lose in eight games, everybody wants to panic. Watching the game [on tape] today, each of the three goals we gave up in the third period were among the strangest we have allowed all year.”

On February 4th, as the Capitals prepared for their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the focus began to shift to the Olympic break. “People said it going into the All-Star break, ‘Oh you guys are hot, this couldn’t have come at a worse time,’ but we came back from it playing just as well,” Wilson said. “Taking three weeks off now going in hot is not going to mean we come out cold, hot or anything else. Every team in the league is faced with the same thing because everybody has someone going. Of course it’s on your mind, with all the excitement now. You start to see it on TV every day, everybody’s talking about it, but it’s not what I would call a distraction. We know we have a job to finish here before we go.”

In Pittsburgh, the Capitals came from behind to tie the Penguins for the second straight game 2-2. Forward Andrew Brunette remained hot as he scored his 11th of the season and the game-tying goal for the Capitals. “I was just sneaking in there looking for a rebound,” Brunette said. “… Any time you’re down late on the road and get a point, you can call it a big one.”

“We sort of stole a point,” Wilson said. “Had we played a little better, we might have stolen two. [But] all in all, considering the way they dominated the third period… it’s good to come out of here with a point.”

On February 7th, the Capitals finished the second third of their season with a matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Forward Peter Bondra, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, scored two goals, but it was not enough as the Lightning defeated the Capitals 4-3. “We had some guys already checked out on vacation,” Wilson furiously said. “We didn’t show any real fire at the right time. We had some great play from some individuals, but we had too many people who mentally weren’t here tonight. We had seven or eight guys who were pretty good out there, but that’s not enough in this league. You need 17-18 guys. I’m really disappointed. And for some people, it’s a lack of effort. You don’t expect this every night, but some people showed where their hearts are tonight — to me, not in the right place. It’s a game that we may look back on later and say, that was a game that cost us home ice [in the playoffs]. That’s why I’m disappointed.”

“I wish we had a better end,” Bondra said. “But that’s hockey. We have two or three weeks to think about it and finish the season strong.”

Going into the Olympic break, the Capitals went 0-2-1 for 1 point for February. This also marked the end of the second third of the season for the Capitals as they would go 12-9-7 during this stretch.

With the second third of the season behind them, we take a look at the All-Star break, Milestones, and the Olympic Break.

TXHT may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through Cool Hockey and Dr. Squatch ads/links in this article.

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