The 1978–79 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals fifth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Capitals failed to make the playoffs for the fifth straight year for the first time in franchise history.

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 11, 1978||4–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||1–0–0

|2||T||October 13, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||1–0–1

|3||L||October 14, 1978||3–6 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||1–1–1

|4||L||October 18, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||1–2–1

|5||L||October 20, 1978||4–6 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||1–3–1

|6||L||October 21, 1978||1–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||1–4–1

|7||T||October 25, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||1–4–2

|8||L||October 28, 1978||1–5 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||1–5–2

|9||W||November 1, 1978||6–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||2–5–2

|10||L||November 2, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||2–6–2

|11||L||November 4, 1978||1–4 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||2–7–2

|12||T||November 5, 1978||3–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||2–7–3

|13||L||November 8, 1978||0–6 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||2–8–3

|14||L||November 9, 1978||2–6 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||2–9–3

|15||L||November 11, 1978||0–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||2–10–3

|16||W||November 14, 1978||8–7 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||3–10–3

|17||W||November 15, 1978||3–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||4–10–3

|18||L||November 17, 1978||2–4 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||4–11–3

|19||W||November 21, 1978||4–3 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||5–11–3

|20||L||November 22, 1978||1–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||5–12–3

|21||T||November 25, 1978||5–5 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||5–12–4

|22||L||November 26, 1978||4–9 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||5–13–4

|23||L||November 29, 1978||3–5 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||5–14–4

|24||L||December 1, 1978||4–7 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||5–15–4

|25||L||December 2, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||5–16–4

|26||L||December 4, 1978||2–10 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||5–17–4

|27||W||December 5, 1978||4–1 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||6–17–4

|28||W||December 9, 1978||7–5 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||7–17–4

|29||L||December 12, 1978||3–4 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||7–18–4

|30||L||December 14, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||7–19–4

|31||L||December 15, 1978||1–6 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||7–20–4

|32||W||December 17, 1978||7–6 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||8–20–4

|33||T||December 19, 1978||4–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||8–20–5

|34||L||December 21, 1978||2–5 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||8–21–5

|35||T||December 23, 1978||2–2 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||8–21–6

|36||L||December 27, 1978||1–6 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||8–22–6

|37||T||December 30, 1978||5–5 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||8–22–7

|38||W||January 3, 1979||8–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||9–22–7

|39||W||January 6, 1979||4–1 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||10–22–7

|40||L||January 7, 1979||3–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||10–23–7

|41||L||January 9, 1979||2–5 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||10–24–7

|42||L||January 11, 1979||2–6 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||10–25–7

|43||W||January 12, 1979||8–1 || align="left"| Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||11–25–7

|44||W||January 14, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||12–25–7

|45||L||January 16, 1979||2–6 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1978–79) ||12–26–7

|46||W||January 19, 1979||5–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||13–26–7

|47||W||January 20, 1979||5–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||14–26–7

|48||W||January 24, 1979||5–1 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||15–26–7

|49||W||January 27, 1979||4–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) ||16–26–7

|50||T||January 28, 1979||2–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||16–26–8

|51||L||January 30, 1979||4–7 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||16–27–8

|52||W||January 31, 1979||5–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||17–27–8

|53||L||February 3, 1979||1–5 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||17–28–8

|54||L||February 4, 1979||4–8 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||17–29–8

|55||W||February 15, 1979||9–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) ||18–29–8

|56||L||February 17, 1979||0–2 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||18–30–8

|57||T||February 18, 1979||6–6 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1978–79) ||18–30–9

|58||L||February 20, 1979||3–5 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) ||18–31–9

|59||L||February 21, 1979||3–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||18–32–9

|60||L||February 24, 1979||4–6 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||18–33–9

|61||L||February 25, 1979||5–8 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||18–34–9

|62||T||February 28, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||18–34–10

|63||W||March 2, 1979||6–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) ||19–34–10

|64||W||March 4, 1979||5–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) ||20–34–10

|65||T||March 5, 1979||2–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||20–34–11

|66||W||March 10, 1979||7–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1978–79) ||21–34–11

|67||T||March 11, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||21–34–12

|68||L||March 14, 1979||1–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) ||21–35–12

|69||L||March 17, 1979||2–5 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||21–36–12

|70||T||March 18, 1979||3–3 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) ||21–36–13

|71||T||March 20, 1979||2–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1978–79) ||21–36–14

|72||T||March 21, 1979||2–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||21–36–15

|73||L||March 24, 1979||1–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||21–37–15

|74||L||March 25, 1979||4–7 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) ||21–38–15

|75||L||March 28, 1979||2–6 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) ||21–39–15

|76||L||March 31, 1979||1–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1978–79) ||21–40–15

|77||W||April 1, 1979||6–4 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1978–79) ||22–40–15

|78||W||April 3, 1979||6–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) ||23–40–15

|79||L||April 7, 1979||3–10 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) ||23–41–15

|80||W||April 8, 1979||5–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) ||24–41–15

Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG C 76 31 59 90 71-14623 C 80 28 42 70 24-14904 D 77 21 44 65 853802 RW 69 31 30 61 137-6404 C/LW 69 28 28 56 70-1601 RW 73 29 25 54 6-6903 C 76 14 27 41 611102 D 71 8 33 41 62-45210 D 74 2 29 31 28-3000 LW 79 9 15 24 36-15000 RW/C 52 13 10 23 10-11100 C 45 7 12 19 481000 LW 19 12 6 18 63601 D 64 3 15 18 147-15000 D 51 1 13 14 807000 RW 30 7 6 13 7-18101 LW 55 7 4 11 81-18101 C 24 5 6 11 12-2000 LW 26 2 9 11 43-13000 D 30 3 5 8 12-13010 D 30 2 6 8 142100 LW 26 3 3 6 127-5101 C 18 2 4 6 0-3101 RW 24 2 2 4 64-6000 C 18 1 3 4 4-1010 RW 9 0 3 3 6-2000 RW 3 1 1 2 0-1000 RW 13 0 2 2 4-1000 G 37 0 2 2 60000 RW 6 1 0 1 2-2000 LW 2 0 1 1 20000 D 39 0 1 1 22-7000 D 20 0 1 1 36-7000 G 30 0 0 0 60000 D 1 0 0 0 01000 G 2 0 0 0 00000 C 2 0 0 0 0-1000 LW 3 0 0 0 13-2000 LW 4 0 0 0 0-3000 D 1 0 0 0 00000 G 18 0 0 0 150000 Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 2107 37 14 14 8 130 3.70 0 1740 30 6 17 6 126 4.34 0 863 18 4 9 1 68 4.73 0 90 2 0 1 0 10 6.67 0 Team: 4800 80 24 41 15 334 4.17 0

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; Draft picks Washington's draft picks at the 1978 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)12Ryan Walter Seattle Breakers (WCHL)118Tim Coulis Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)220Paul Mulvey Portland Winterhawks (WCHL)223Paul MacKinnon Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)338Glen Currie Laval National (QMJHL)345Jay Johnston Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)455Bengt-Ake Gustafsson Färjestad BK Karlstad (SEL)571Lou Franceschetti Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)688Vince Magnan University of Denver (WCHA)7105Mats Hallin Södertälje SK (Sweden)8122Rich Sirois Milwaukee Admirals (IHL)9139Denis Pomerleau Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)10156Barry Heard London Knights (OMJHL)11172Mark Toffolo Port Huron Flags (IHL)12187Paul Hogan Regina Pats (WCHL)12189Steve Barger Boston College (ECAC)13202Rod Pacholzuk University of Michigan (WCHA)14213Wes Jarvis Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)14215Ray Irwin Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)

See also 1978–79 NHL season

References