Editing Washington Capitals (section)

====Back-to-back Presidents' Trophies and first Stanley Cup championship (2015–2018)====
In the [[2015–16 NHL season|2015–16 season]], the Capitals finished in first place in the league with a record of 56–18–8 and 120 points. In the first round of the [[2016 Stanley Cup playoffs]], they would face the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals won the first three games of the series and were looking for their first sweep in the playoffs of a best-of-seven series in franchise history. However, the Flyers would win the next two games to send the series to a sixth game in Philadelphia; the Capitals nevertheless won that series in six games to advance to the second round of the playoffs. In the second round, they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time since 2009. After winning the first game of the series in Washington, the Capitals lost three straight games, and were in danger of elimination. Washington would stave off elimination with a win in game 5, but they would lose the series in six games, with the Penguins going on to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2009.

[[File:Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals (33743915834).jpg|left|thumb|[[Evgeny Kuznetsov]] skating forward with the puck against the Penguins during the second round of the [[2017 Stanley Cup playoffs]].]]
Ovechkin reached the 1,000-point milestone on January 11, 2017, with a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins 35 seconds into the first period of that game. Ovechkin is the 84th NHL player to reach the 1,000-point milestone, the fourth Russian-born player and the 37th player to reach the milestone while playing for one team throughout their NHL career.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alex Ovechkin scores 1,000th NHL point|url=https://www.nhl.com/news/capitals-alex-ovechkin-scores-1000th-nhl-point/c-285576932|publisher=National Hockey League|access-date=February 2, 2017|date=January 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Alex Ovechkin scores twice, passes 1,000 points in win over Penguins|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/18455243/alex-ovechkin-washington-capitals-records-1000th-point-quick-goal|work=ESPN|access-date=February 2, 2017|date=January 12, 2017}}</ref> The Capitals won their second Presidents' Trophy in a row, becoming just the seventh team in NHL history and the first time since the [[Vancouver Canucks]] in 2010–11 and 2011–12 to win back-to-back Presidents' Trophies.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Clinton|first1=Jared|title=Does winning back-to-back Presidents' Trophies set the Capitals up for success?|url=http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/does-winning-back-to-back-presidents-trophies-set-the-capitals-up-for-success|website=The Hockey News|access-date=April 12, 2017|date=April 7, 2017}}</ref> Ovechkin finished the 2016–17 season with 33 goals, leading the Capitals in goals for the twelfth straight season.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Washington Capitals Franchise Index|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WSH/|website=Hockey-Reference.com|access-date=April 12, 2017|archive-date=April 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426040435/http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WSH/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the [[2017 Stanley Cup playoffs|2017 playoffs]], the Capitals defeated the eighth-seeded [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] in six games in the first round to set up a second consecutive showdown with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. After falling behind 3–1 in the series, they battled back to force a game 7 at home, where they were eliminated 2–0, and lost their series 4–3.

After the 2017 playoffs, the Capitals were unable to retain a number of players, losing [[Kevin Shattenkirk]], [[Karl Alzner]], [[Justin Williams]], and [[Daniel Winnik]] to free agency, and budding young defenseman [[Nate Schmidt]] to the [[2017 NHL expansion draft]]. In addition, to get under the cap, the Capitals shipped [[Marcus Johansson (ice hockey, born 1990)|Marcus Johansson]] to the [[New Jersey Devils]].

[[File:Alex Ovechkin with Stanley Cup.jpg|thumb|upright|Ovechkin with the [[Stanley Cup]] at the [[National Mall]], following the [[2018 Stanley Cup Finals]].]]
Despite a slow 5–6–1 start, which extended out to 10–9–1, the Capitals caught fire in December, going 10–2–2, and were able to clinch the Metropolitan Division for a third straight year on April 1. They qualified for the [[2018 Stanley Cup playoffs]] for the 10th time in 11 years with their third straight division title and a second seed finish in the Eastern Conference.

In the 2018 playoffs, the Capitals were able to battle back from a 2–0 series deficit against the seventh-seeded [[Columbus Blue Jackets]] in the first round of the playoffs, winning four straight and beating the Blue Jackets in six games. They faced the Penguins again in the second round, and this time, on May 7, 2018, they were able to beat the Penguins in the second round with an overtime goal on the road in game 6 by [[Evgeny Kuznetsov]]. It marked the first time in 20 seasons that the Capitals made the conference finals and the first time in 24 seasons that they had defeated the Penguins in playoff series.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alex Ovechkin, Capitals put halt to 20-year East finals drought|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/23437778/alex-ovechkin-washington-capitals-end-20-year-east-finals-drought|work=ESPN|access-date=May 8, 2018|date=May 8, 2018}}</ref> The Capitals advanced to the [[2018 Stanley Cup Finals]] on May 23, after beating the top-seeded [[Tampa Bay Lightning]] in seven games after a 4–0 rout at [[Amalie Arena]] in Tampa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/caps-blank-bolts-in-game-7-to-earn-trip-to-stanley-cup-final/c-298772490|title=Caps Blank Bolts in Game 7 to Earn Trip to Stanley Cup Final|website=NHL.com|date=May 24, 2018}}</ref> They then faced the expansion [[Vegas Golden Knights]] and overcame them in five games, including a 4–3 win in the decisive game 5 at [[T-Mobile Arena]] after [[Lars Eller]] scored with about seven minutes to go. Not only was it the Capitals' first Stanley Cup win, but it was also the first championship for a Washington, D.C. team in one of the four major North American sports leagues since the [[Washington Redskins]] defeated the [[Buffalo Bills]] 26 years beforehand in [[Super Bowl XXVI]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Capitals capture 1st Stanley Cup with 4-3 win over Golden Knights |url=http://abc7.com/sports/washington-capitals-win-1st-stanley-cup/3576033/ |website=abc7.com |access-date=June 8, 2018 |date=June 7, 2018}}</ref> Shortly after the Stanley Cup Finals, Barry Trotz resigned as the head coach of the Capitals, after negotiations for a contract extension fell through.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/sports/barry-trotz-resigns-washington-capitals.html|website=www.nytimes.com|date=June 18, 2018|access-date=April 23, 2023|publisher=The New York Times Company|title=Barry Trotz Leaves Washington Capitals After Winning Stanley Cup}}</ref> [[Todd Reirden]] was named as Trotz's replacement on June 29.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/capitals/capitals-get-their-guy-name-todd-reirden-new-head-coach|title=Capitals get their guy, name Todd Reirden new head coach|publisher=Lincoln Media|website=www.nbcsports.com|access-date=April 23, 2023|date=June 29, 2018}}</ref>