The 1987–88 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals 14th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). Regular season The Capitals had the most shutouts in the league with six and were the least penalized team in the league, being short-handed only 394 times. Final standings Schedule and results Playoffs Defenseman Garry Galley's crucial two-goal performance tied the regular season finale with Philadelphia, meant that Washington won the head-to-head tiebreaker and finished second in the Patrick Division, giving them home-ice advantage in their first-round match-up with the defending division and Wales Conference champion Flyers. Philly showed a champion's mettle right away, though, stealing home ice away with a 4–2 victory in Game 1. Ron Hextall made 35 saves and Dave Poulin's 3rd period power play tally broke a 2–2 tie. Washington salvaged a split at home with a 5-4 triumph in Game 2. Despite letting in a quartet of Philly goals, Pete Peeters proved to be the final period hero, stopping 14 of 15 shots from a pressing Flyers attack. Philadelphia then turned the tables back at their place, taking a pair of one-goal games, both of them high in drama for entirely different reasons. In Game 3, a 4–3 Flyers win, officials handed out 40 penalties, including 10 major/misconduct penalties. After the game Philly forward Rick Tocchet, who spent roughly half the contest in the penalty box, was quoted as saying, "There are 10 guys on that team that I'd like to kill." The rivalry heated up further in Game 4 as both teams tried to change momentum with goalie switches. The Capitals yanked Peeters in favor of starting Clint Malarchuk, who had played more during the regular season. Despite missing starting defenseman Scott Stevens and team captain Rod Langway, who were injured in Game 3, the move seemed to be paying dividends as Washington took a 4–1 lead with 17:00 to go, resulting in Hextall's removal for backup Mark Laforest. The Caps maintained their 3-goal advantage into the final 9:00 of the game, when the Flyers began one of their most riveting comebacks in franchise history. Mark Howe and Brian Propp scored to cut the deficit to one and then, after pulling their new netminder, the tying tally came from defenseman Kjell Samuelsson with :53 remaining. The Flyers completed the comeback when Murray Craven lit the lamp just 1:18 into overtime, giving them a 5–4 win for Philly.