Capitals Announce 2011-12 Regular-Season Schedule

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals’ 82-game regular-season schedule for 2011-12 begins on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Verizon Center versus the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m., with the first road game of the campaign set for Oct. 13 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center. The 2011-12 NHL schedule format, like the last three seasons, has the Capitals facing the other teams in the Southeast Division six times each and the remaining Eastern Conference opponents four times each. Washington plays each team in the Western Conference at least once, with two games each against Detroit, Nashville and San Jose. Nine Western Conference teams will visit Verizon Center. The Capitals will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins at Verizon Center on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 at 12:30 p.m. It will mark the third year in a row that the Capitals will play on Super Bowl Sunday. Washington has six homestands of at least three games on the schedule, the longest being a five-game stretch at Verizon Center from Feb. 28 - Mar. 8. The Capitals have two stretches of at least three straight road games and a season-high five-game road trip from Mar. 13-22. In addition, the Capitals will have 12 sets of back-to-back games.

Nearly half of the Capitals’ 41 home games at Verizon Center fall on weekends, which includes seven games on Friday, six on Saturday and five on Sunday. The schedule features holiday home games on Columbus Day (Oct. 10 vs. Tampa Bay), the day before and the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 23 vs. Winnipeg; Nov. 25 vs. New York Rangers), Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 5 vs. Boston) and the day before Valentine’s Day (Feb. 13 vs. San Jose).

All but eight of Washington’s home games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with five Sunday afternoon games scheduled.

Television broadcast plans will be released at a later date. All Capitals games can be heard on Caps Radio 1500 and 820 AM as well as WashingtonCaps.com.

Key Dates:
Oct. 8 – Home opener at Verizon Center vs. the division-rival Carolina Hurricanes.
Oct. 10 – A Columbus Day rematch of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinal series vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Oct. 22 – The 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings make their first visit to Verizon Center since 2010.
Nov. 23 – Team Winnipeg makes its first appearance at Verizon Center.
Nov. 25 – The New York Rangers return to Washington the day after Thanksgiving for the first time since the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
Dec. 1 – Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins make their first visit to D.C. of the season.
Jan. 3 – The Capitals kick off 2012 when they host the Calgary Flames at Verizon Center for the first time since 2010.
Jan. 24 – Washington welcomes the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins to Verizon Center for the first time in 2011-12.
April 5 – Washington concludes the regular-season home schedule at Verizon Center vs. the Florida Panthers.

2011-12 Washington Capitals Schedule

 

October

Sat., Oct. 8              Carolina                 7 p.m.  

Mon., Oct. 10          Tampa Bay             7 p.m.

Thu., Oct. 13           at Pittsburgh             7 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 15            Ottawa                    7 p.m.

Tue., Oct. 18           Florida                   7 p.m.

Thu., Oct. 20           at Philadelphia          7 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 22            Detroit                    7 p.m.

Thu., Oct. 27           at Edmonton             9:30 p.m.

Sat., Oct 29              at Vancouver             10 p.m.

 

November

Tue., Nov. 1            Anaheim                 7 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 4              at Carolina               7 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 5             at N.Y. Islanders       7 p.m.

Tue., Nov. 8            Dallas                     7 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 11            at New Jersey            7 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 12           New Jersey              7 p.m.

Tue., Nov. 15           at Nashville              8 p.m.

Thu., Nov. 17          at Winnipeg             8:30 p.m.                 

Sat., Nov. 19            at Toronto                7 p.m.

Mon., Nov. 21         Phoenix                  7 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 23         Winnipeg                7 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 25            N.Y. Rangers           4 p.m.  

Sat., Nov. 26            at Buffalo                 7 p.m.

Tue., Nov. 29          St. Louis                 7 p.m.                      

 

December

Thu., Dec. 1            Pittsburgh               7 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 3              Ottawa                    7 p.m.

Mon., Dec. 5            at Florida                 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Dec. 7            at Ottawa                 7 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 9              Toronto                  7 p.m.

Tue., Dec. 13           Philadelphia           7 p.m.

Thu., Dec. 15           at Winnipeg             8:30 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 17            at Colorado              9 p.m.

Tue., Dec. 20           Nashville                 7 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 23             at New Jersey            7 p.m.

Mon., Dec. 26          at Buffalo                 7 p.m.  

Wed., Dec. 28          N.Y. Rangers           7:30 p.m.                 

Fri. , Dec. 30           Buffalo                   7 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 31            at Columbus             7 p.m.

 

January

Tue. , Jan. 3           Calgary                   7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 7               at San Jose               10:30 p.m.

Mon., Jan. 9             at Los Angeles          10:30 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 11          Pittsburgh               7:30 p.m.

Fri., Jan. 13            Tampa Bay             7 p.m.

Sun., Jan. 15          Carolina                 5 p.m.

Tue., Jan. 17           N.Y. Islanders         7 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 18           at Montreal               7:30 p.m.

Fri., Jan. 20             at Carolina               7 p.m.

Sun., Jan. 22            at Pittsburgh             3 p.m.

Tue., Jan. 24           Boston                    7 p.m.

Tue., Jan. 31            at Tampa Bay           7:30 p.m.

 

February

Tue., Feb. 1             at Florida                 8 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 4              at Montreal               2 p.m.

Sun., Feb. 5            Boston                    12:30 p.m.

Tue., Feb. 7            Florida                   7 p.m.  

Thu., Feb. 9            Winnipeg                7 p.m.

Sun., Feb. 12           at N.Y. Rangers        3 p.m.

Mon., Feb. 13          San Jose                 7 p.m.

Fri., Feb. 17             at Florida                 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 18            at Tampa Bay           7 p.m.

Mon., Feb. 20          at Carolina               7 p.m.

Wed., Feb. 22          at Ottawa                 7 p.m.

Fri., Feb. 24            Montreal                 7 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 25            at Toronto                7 p.m.

Tue., Feb. 28           N.Y. Islanders         7 p.m.

 

March

Fri., March 2           New Jersey              7 p.m.

Sun., March 4         Philadelphia           TBD

Tue., March 6         Carolina                 7 p.m.

Thu., March 8         Tampa Bay             7 p.m.

Sat., March 10          at Boston                 1 p.m.

Sun., March 11       Toronto                  5 p.m.

Tue., March 13         at N.Y. Islanders       7 p.m.

Fri., March 16          at Winnipeg             8:30 p.m.

Sun., March 18         at Chicago                7 p.m.

Mon., March 19        at Detroit                 7:30 p.m.

Thu., March 22         at Philadelphia          7 p.m.

Fri., March 23         Winnipeg                7 p.m.

Sun., March 25       Minnesota               5 p.m.  

Tue., March 27        Buffalo                   7 p.m.

Thu., March 29         at Boston                 7 p.m.

Sat., March 31         Montreal                 7 p.m.

 

April

Mon., April 2           at Tampa Bay           7:30 p.m.

Thu., April 5          Florida                   7 p.m.

Sat., April 7             at N.Y. Rangers        3 p.m.