Summary of the Washington Capitals 1990-91 Season: A Scoring Dip
With the Washington Capitals celebrating their 50th anniversary, NoVa Caps is summarizing each of the previous seasons, from earliest to most recent. The series continues with the 1990-1991 season, their 17th season.
The 1990-1991 season saw the Caps finish with a 37-36-7 record for 81 points for 3rd in the Patrick Division.
They ranked 14th out of 21 in goals for and 5th out of 21 in goals given up. This squad lacked offensive firepower, as evidenced by the fact that the team leaders in goals were defenseman Kevin Hatcher and left-wing Kelly Miller who each had 24.
The lack of offense was, in part, because Dino Ciccarelli missed 28 games, and also because of a changing of the guard.
Dmitri Khristich made his Caps debut and scored 13 goals in 40 games, while Peter Bondra scored 12 goals in 54 games in his first NHL season. Those two players would figure into the Caps’ success over the coming years.
In the playoffs, Washington knocked off the Rangers in the opening round in six games to earn a second-round meeting with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After winning the first game in Pittsburgh, the Caps led 6-5 halfway through the third period of Game 2 before the Penguins tied the score with less than five minutes to go.
They fell in overtime on a Kevin Stevens goal. The Pens then swept the next three games to take the series. This was the first of six meetings between the two teams in the playoffs in the 1990s. Most of them didn’t end well.
