Editing Washington Capitals (section)

===Bondra–Gonchar era (1993–2005)===
From [[1990–91 NHL season|1990–91]] to [[1995–96 NHL season|1995–96]], the Capitals would lose in either the first or the second round of the playoffs. They would eliminate the Rangers in the first round but lost the second round to the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]] in 1991. In [[1991–92 NHL season|1991–92]] and [[1992–93 NHL season|1992–93]], they would lose in the first round to the Penguins and the Islanders, respectively. In [[1993–94 NHL season|1993–94]], they won their first-round series against the Penguins but lost in the second round to the Rangers. In [[1994–95 NHL season|1994–95]] and [[1995–96 NHL season|1995–96]], they lost in the first round both times to the Penguins. They would miss the playoffs in [[1996–97 NHL season|1996–97]].

====First Stanley Cup Finals appearance (1998)====
[[File:Verizon Center wide.jpg|thumb|The Capitals moved into the MCI Center (presently [[Capital One Arena]]) in 1997.]]
In [[1997–98 NHL season|1997–98]], as the Caps opened [[MCI Center]], [[Peter Bondra]]'s 52 goals led the team, veterans [[Dale Hunter]], [[Joé Juneau|Joe Juneau]] and [[Adam Oates]] returned to old form, and [[Olaf Kölzig|Olaf Kolzig]] had a solid .920 save percentage as the Caps got past the Boston Bruins, [[Ottawa Senators]] and [[Buffalo Sabres]] (the latter on a dramatic overtime win in game 6 on a goal by Joe Juneau) en route to the team's first [[1998 Stanley Cup Finals|Stanley Cup Finals]] appearance. The Capitals won six overtime games, three in each of their series against the Bruins and Sabres. However, the team was outmatched by the defending champions, the [[Detroit Red Wings]], who won in a four-game sweep. That same season, Oates, [[Phil Housley]] and Hunter all scored their 1,000th career point, the only time in NHL history that one team had three players reach that same milestone in a single season.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/10/sports/nhl-last-night-hunter-s-hat-trick-lifts-caps.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm | title=N.H.L.: LAST NIGHT; Hunter's Hat Trick Lifts Caps | newspaper=The New York Times | date=January 10, 1998}}</ref> This series is also famous for [[Esa Tikkanen]]'s missed open net goal in game 2.

====Disappointments and rebuilding (1998–2004)====
After their 1998 Stanley Cup run, the Capitals finished the [[1998–99 NHL season|1998–99 season]] with a record of 31–45–6 and failed to qualify for the playoffs. During the season, the team was sold to a group headed by [[America Online]] (AOL) executive [[Ted Leonsis]]. The Capitals went on to win back-to-back [[Southeast Division (NHL)|Southeast Division]] titles in 2000 and 2001, yet both years lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Penguins. After the 2000–01 season, [[Adam Oates]] demanded a trade but management refused and stripped him of his team captaincy.

In the summer of 2001, the Capitals landed five-time [[Art Ross Trophy]] winner [[Jaromír Jágr|Jaromir Jagr]], by trading three young prospects to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jagr was signed to the largest contract ever in NHL history – $77 million over seven years at an average salary of $11 million per year (over $134,000 per game) with an option for an eighth year. However, after Adam Oates was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Capitals failed to defend their division title and missed the playoffs in 2002 despite a winning record. Still, the [[2001–02 NHL season|2001–02 season]] marked the highest attendance in franchise history, drawing in 710,990 fans and 17,341 per game.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/notes/was.htm |title=Sports |work=USA Today |access-date=September 5, 2012}}</ref>

Before the 2002–03 season, the Caps made more roster changes, including the signing of highly regarded [[Robert Lang (ice hockey)|Robert Lang]] as a free agent, a linemate of Jagr's from Pittsburgh. Washington returned to the playoffs in [[2002–03 NHL season|2003]], but disappointed fans again by losing in six games to the [[Tampa Bay Lightning]] after starting off with a two-game lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. The series is well-remembered for the three–overtime game 6 at the then-[[MCI Center]]. At the time it was the longest game in the building's history and was eventually decided by a power-play goal by Tampa Bay.

[[File:Kolzig Caps 2007 4.jpg|left|thumb|[[Olaf Kölzig|Kolzig]] was among Washington's best players between the late 1990s and early 2000s.]]
In the [[2003–04 NHL season|2003–04 season]], the Caps unloaded much of their high-priced talent – not just a cost-cutting spree, but also an acknowledgment that their attempt to build a contender with high-priced veteran talent had failed. Jagr had never lived up to expectations during his time with the Capitals, failing to finish among the league's top scorers or make the postseason [[NHL All-Star team|All-Star team]]. The Caps tried to trade Jagr, but as only one year was left on the existing [[NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement]] (CBA) before it expired, few teams were willing to risk $11 million on an underperforming player. In 2004, Jagr was finally sent to the New York Rangers in exchange for [[Anson Carter]] and an agreement that Washington would pay approximately $4 million per year of Jagr's salary, with Jagr himself agreeing to defer (with interest) $1 million per year for the remainder of his contract to allow the trade to go ahead. This was quickly followed by Peter Bondra departing for the Ottawa Senators. Not long after, Robert Lang was sent to the Detroit Red Wings, as well as [[Sergei Gonchar]] to the Boston Bruins. The Lang trade marked the first time in the [[history of the National Hockey League|history of the NHL]] that the league's leading scorer was traded in the middle of the season. The Capitals ended the year 23–46–10–3, tied for the second-worst record, along with the [[Chicago Blackhawks]].

In the [[2004 NHL entry draft]], the Capitals won the draft lottery, moving ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who held the NHL's worst record, and selected [[Alexander Ovechkin]] first overall. During the [[2004–05 NHL lockout|NHL labor dispute of 2004–05]], which cost the NHL its entire season, Ovechkin stayed in Russia, playing for [[HC Dynamo Moscow|Dynamo Moscow]]. Several other Capitals played part or all of the lost season in Europe, including [[Olaf Kölzig|Olaf Kolzig]], [[Brendan Witt]], [[Jeff Halpern]], and [[Alexander Semin]]. The Capitals' 2005 off-season consisted of making D.C.-area native Halpern the team's captain, signing [[Andrew Cassels]], [[Ben Clymer]], [[Mathieu Biron]] and [[Jamie Heward]], and acquiring [[Chris Clark (ice hockey)|Chris Clark]] and [[Jeff Friesen]] via trade.