Washington Capitals in History

Events in Sport

  • 1951-01-09 Washington Capitals NBA team folds
  • 1974-10-09 Washington Capitals 1st NHL game, losing 6-3 to NY Rangers at Madison Square Garden; start of a 37 game road losing streak for Washington
  • 1974-10-12 1st time Washington Capitals are shutout as they are beat 6-0 by Minnesota
  • 1974-10-15 Washington Capitals 1st NHL tie, playing LA Kings to 1-1 tie
  • 1974-10-17 Washington Capitals 1st NHL home victory, beating Chicago 4-3
  • 1974-10-19 NHL Detroit Red Wing Mickey Redmond scores 1st hat trick against Washington Capitals
  • 1974-10-21 NHL New York Islanders and goaltender Billy Smith's 1st shut-out win, 5-0 vs Washington Capitals
  • 1974-11-10 Montreal Canadiens shutout Washington Capitals 11-0
  • 1974-12-19 Dave Kryskow scores Washington Capitals 1st NHL shorthanded goal
  • 1974-12-26 Washington Capitals 1st NHL sellout
  • 1975-01-04 Montreal Canadiens shutout Washington Capitals 10-0
  • 1975-02-16 Washington Capitals 1st NHL shutout, beating KC Scouts 3-0
  • 1975-03-26 Washington Capitals play record NHL 37th road game without a win & NHL record of 17 straight loses
  • 1975-03-28 NHL Washington Capitals win 1st game on road after 37 straight road loses
  • 1975-03-30 Ron Lalonde scores the 1st hat trick by a Washington Capital
  • 1976-01-23 Washington Capitals end 25 game winless streak (0-22-3) beat NY Rangers 7-5
  • 1977-02-12 Toronto Maple Leafs shutout Washington Capitals 10-0
  • 1977-04-02 Montreal Canadiens rout the Washington Capitals, 11-0 at the Montreal Forum to set an NHL record of 34 straight home games without a loss

NHL Record

1981-02-22 Slovak brothers Anton & Peter Šťastný score NHL rookie record 8 points each in Quebec Nordiques, 11-7 win over Washington Capitals at Capital Centre

  • 1981-12-11 Wash Capitals biggest margin of victory (9) beating Toronto 11-2
  • 1983-10-08 Washington Capitals 1st NHL overtime game losing to NY Islanders 8-7
  • 1983-11-04 Washington Capitals first NHL overtime victory beating Vancouver 5-4
  • 1984-01-08 Washington Capitals Bengt Gustafsson scores 5 goals to beat Philadelphia 7-1
  • 1985-04-14 Bob Carpenter is unsuccessful on Washington Capitals 1st playoff penalty shot
  • 1988-12-10 Washington Capitals 1st NHL scoreless tie, vs Montreal Canadiens
  • 1988-12-17 Bryan Murray becomes 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Washington Capitals)

Sports History

1989-03-07 Dino Ciccarelli is traded by the Minnesota North Stars to the Washington Capitals

  • 1989-03-18 Dino Ciccarelli sets Washington Capital record of 7 pts in a game
  • 1990-01-15 In a bizarre twist in the NHL, Washington Capitals fire coach Brian Murray, who had been head coach since 1981; replace him with his brother Terry, who had been coaching in the minors
  • 1990-05-09 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: Boston Bruins beat Washington Capitals, 4 games to 0
  • 1990-10-05 Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Kevin Stevens has 2 goals & 4 assists in 7-4 opening-night win against the Washington Capitals at Capital Centre to set NHL record for most points in a season opener (6)

Sports History

1992-02-29 Boston’s Ray Bourque becomes just the 3rd defenseman in NHL history to score 1,000 career points with a goal and 2 assists in the Bruins' 5-5 tie with Washington Capitals at Boston Garden

Sports History

1993-04-28 NY Islanders beat Washington Capitals 4 to 1 in playoffs, Capitals' Dale Hunter attacks Pierre Turgeon after scoring, in hockey's worst cheap shot

  • 1997-11-26 Wash Capitals final game at USAir Arena, retire Rod Langway's #5
  • 1997-12-05 1st Game at Wash Capitals' MCI Center vs Fla Panthers
  • 1998-06-04 NHL Eastern Conference Final: Washington Capitals beat Buffalo Sabres, 4 games to 2
  • 1998-06-16 Stanley Cup Final, MCI Center, Washington, D.C.: Detroit Red Wings go back-to-back, defeating debutant finalists Washington Capitals, 4-1 for a 4-0 series sweep
  • 2004-01-11 Washington Capitals' German goaltender Olaf Kölzig records his 32nd NHL career shutout in a 1-0 win against the visiting Edmonton Oilers
  • 2018-06-07 Stanley Cup Final, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV: Washington Capitals beat Las Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3 for a 4-1 series victory; first title in franchise history

NHL Record

2022-11-05 Alex Ovechkin scores 787th career goal for the Washington Capitals surpassing Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings, for all-time NHL record for most goals scored for a single team, in 3-2 loss to Arizona Coyotes

  • 2022-12-13 Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores a hat trick in 7-3 away win over Chicago Blackhawks to join Wayne Gretzky & Gordie Howe as the only players in NHL history to score 800 goals
  • 2022-12-23 Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores two goals to move past Gordie Howe on most NHL career goals list in 4-1 win over visiting Winnipeg Jets

Birthdays in Sport

  • 1924-06-21 Max McNab, Canadian ice hockey executive (GM Washington Capitals 1975-83; New Jersey Devils 1983-87), born in Watson, Saskatchewan (d. 2007)
  • 1957-02-20 Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey coach (Washington Capitals 2003-08; Belarus 2005-06) and goalie (Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings), born in Brandon, Manitoba
  • 1957-05-03 Rod Langway, American NHL ice hockey defenseman, 1978-93 (Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals), born in Taipei, Taiwan
  • 1959-05-12 Dave Christian, American NHL right wing, 1980-94 (Olympic gold, 1980; Washington Capitals, Winnipeg Jets, and 3 other teams), born in Warroad, Minnesota

Dino Ciccarelli (64 years old)

1960-02-08 Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (most goals for NHL undrafted player, 608), born in Sarnia, Ontario

  • 1960-07-31 Dale Hunter, Canadian NHL center, coach, owner (Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals, London Knights [OHL]), born in Petrolia, Ontario
  • 1962-08-09 Jim Johnson, American NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in New Hope, Minnesota
  • 1963-03-03 Kelly Miller, NHL left wing (Washington Capitals), born in Detroit, Michigan
  • 1963-03-07 Mike Eagles, Canadian NHL center (Washington Capitals), born in Sussex, New Brunswick
  • 1965-02-22 Joe Reekie, Canadian NHL defenseman, 1985-2002 (Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, and 3 other teams), born in Victoria, British Columbia
  • 1965-12-17 Craig Berube, Calahoo, NHL left wing (Washington Capitals)
  • 1966-01-07 Randy Burridge, Canadian NHL left wing (NHL All Star 1992; Washington Capitals,; Boston Bruins), born in Fort Erie, Ontario
  • 1966-01-19 Sylvain Cote, Canadian NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Quebec City, Canada
  • 1966-05-09 Mark Tinordi, Canadian NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Red Deer, Alberta
  • 1967-02-14 Calle Johansson, Swedish NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 1968-01-05 Joe Juneau, Canadian NHL center (Washington Capitals), born in Pont-Rouge, Canada
  • 1968-02-07 Peter Bondra, Lutsk Ukr, NHL right wing (Washington Capitals)
  • 1968-11-08 Keith Jones, Canadian NHL right wing, 1992-2000 (Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and 1 other team), broadcaster. 2005-23 (NBC, Philadelphia Flyers), and team executive, 2023-present (Philadelphia), born in Brantford, Ontario
  • 1969-08-15 James Black, Canadian NHL center, 1989-2001 (Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals, and 4 other teams), born in Regina, Saskatchewan
  • 1970-01-14 Eric Charron, Canadian NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Verdun, Quebec
  • 1970-04-06 Olaf Kolzig, German NHL goalie and coach (Germany, Washington Capitals), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 1971-04-24 Ken Klee, NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Indianapolis, Indiana
  • 1972-10-03 Michael Nylander, Swedish NHL center (World C'ship gold 1992, 2006; Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals), born in Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1972-11-11 Steve Konowalchuk, American NHL center (Washington Capitals), born in Salt Lake City, Utah
  • 1972-12-18 Jeff Nelson, Prince Albert, NHL center (Washington Capitals)
  • 1973-05-28 Pat Peake, NHL center (Washington Capitals), born in Rochester, New York
  • 1973-08-24 Andrew Brunette, Canadian NHL left wing (Washington Capitals), born in Greater Sudbury, Canada
  • 1974-01-03 Stefan Ustorf, Kaufbeuren Ger, NHL right wing (Washington Capitals)
  • 1974-04-13 Sergei Gonchar, Russian NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals; Olympic silver 1998), born in Chelyabinsk, Russia
  • 1974-05-31 Jim Carey, American NHL goalie, 1994-99 (Washington Capitals, and 2 other teams), born in Dorchester, Massachusetts
  • 1975-02-20 Brendan Witt, Humboldt, NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals)
  • 1976-03-23 Nolan Baumgartner, NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Calgary, Alberta

Alex Ovechkin (38 years old)

1985-09-17 Russian ice hockey player (Moscow Dynamo; Washington Capitals) who is one of the greatest goal scorers of all time, born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union


Deaths in Sport

  • 2007-09-02 Max McNab, Canadian ice hockey executive (GM Washington Capitals 1975-83; New Jersey Devils 1983-87), dies at 83