Heartbroken Washington Capitals fans take heart: Your team blew it again in the playoffs this year and you have to witness the indignity of cities like San Jose, Calif., enjoying deeper runs into the spring season.

But you can always distract yourself by heading up the road to check out on the big screen one of the greatest sports movies — heck, one of the greatest movies, period — George Roy Hill’s 1977 masterpiece, “Slap Shot.”

Playing at the Charles Theater in Baltimore at 7 p.m. Monday and 9 p.m. Thursday, this is one of Paul Newman’s best roles, as the player/coach Reggie Dunlop of the struggling Charlestown Chiefs, who embraces the goon-squad gonzo Hanson brothers to make something of their moribund squad. And yeah, most everyone’s seen it on VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray. But there’s nothing like seeing it in 35mm on the big screen, with a bunch of other people who love hockey, violence and the wonderful fatalism of 1970s cinema.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW67agGgWAM

Correction: May 28, 5:42 p.m.

An earlier version of this post stated the wrong year for when “Slap Shot” was released. It was 1977.