This Date in Caps History - November 18

On November 18, 1983, the Washington Capitals dished out a 7-1 beating to the four-time defending Stanley Cup Champions New York Islanders before 12,899 fans at the Capital Centre.

Larry Murphy put Washington on the board first with a power play goal at 13:20 of the first period. Murphy’s goal tied a club record as it gave the Capitals a power play goal in 11 straight games. At 16:46, Dave Christian scored to make it 2-0. Washington outshot the Islanders by an incredible margin of 24-4 in the first period. The 24 shots tied a Washington team record for most shots in a period and set an Islander record for most shots allowed.

The Caps came out flying in the second period, too. Bengt Gustafsson’s ninth goal of the season extended the Washington lead to 3-0. At 11:47, the red-hot Caps power play struck again. This time, It was Mike Gartner nothing his 11th goal of the campaign. Alan Haworth’s goal at 14:49 gave the Caps a 5-0 lead before Mike Bossy’s goal late in the second ruined Al Jensen’s shutout bid. The Caps outshot the Isles, 15-5.

In the third period, Washington managed only six shots but two of them found the net behind goaltender Billy Smith. Gaetan Duchesne scored at 5:40 and Haworth netted his second of the game at 7:41. On the night, the Caps bombed Smith with 45 shots while permitting only 14 in Jensen’s direction.

The win lifted Washington’s all-time record against the Islanders to 6-34-5. The Islanders would go on to a fifth straight Stanley Cup Finals appearance that season. They fell to the upstart Edmonton Oilers and the dynasty was over. They have advanced past the second round only once since.