Oates became the 47th player in NHL history, and the 15th fastest, to score his 1,000th career point on October 7, 1997, against the New York Islanders. He reached the milestone by scoring a hat-trick and adding two assists for the sixth five-point game of his career. He finished the 1997–98 season as the team leader with 56 assists, and second to Peter Bondra in team scoring with 78 points. The Capitals reached the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, which they lost to the Detroit Red Wings, their first finals appearance in franchise history.