8 – Number of days remaining until the Caps open the 2014-15 season. But it’s also…
…the number of times the Caps were shut out by their opponent in 2013-14, tied with Detroit and Calgary for fifth-most in the NHL; only Nashville, New Jersey, Edmonton and Buffalo were blanked more often.
Of course, if that weren’t special enough in its own right, those eight shutouts posted against the Caps were also the sixth-most in franchise history, beating out such high-flying squads as the 1976-77 team that won just 24 games all year.