This was the Washington Capitals 33rd season in the National Hockey League. The season started with an opener against the Atlanta Thrashers, on October 5, 2007. After having the worst season start since 1981-82, the Capitals fired head coach Glen Hanlon on Novemeber 22. Glen Hanlon was then replaced by Bruce Boudreau whose job as head coach was made permanent on December 26th. This year the captain was Chris Clark. The team also has 2 alternate captains who were Brian Sutherby for the first half of the season, Donald Brashear for the second half, and Alexander Ovechkin for the whole season.
Even though they didn't have a great year, they became the first team in NHL history to make it to the playoffs after ranking 14th or worst in the middle of the season. Also for the first time in 12 years, left wing Alexander Ovechkin scored his 60th goal in the season, and later beating Dennis Maruk's single-season franchise record with a total of 65 goals for the season. For this, Ovechkin was awarded the Hart Trophy for being this years Most Valuable Player in the NHL, as well as rookie Nicklas Backstrom who received the NHL YoungStar Award.
The Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers on April 5th to clinch the Southeast Division Title. This is their fourth division title overall. This got them a spot in the playoffs but were defeated at the 7th game against the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime on a power play goal by Joffrey Lupul. That was the end of their season with an overall record of 43-31-8.
