39 – Number of years, to the day, since the Caps first took the ice in Washington, DC (or more accurately, Landover, MD) for the very first preseason game in franchise history. They faced off against the Montreal Canadiens, with coach Scotty Bowman behind the bench and Ken Dryden in net, and drew to a surprising 4-4 tie.
And the rest, as they say, is history… albeit with some bumps along the way (and you can read a firsthand account of that rocky, now-infamous first season here).