This Date in Caps History - December 6

On December 6, 1980, the Washington Capitals thumped the Colorado Rockies by a score of 8-6 before 12,933 spectators at the Capital Centre.

Less than a minute into the first period, Paul Mulvey put the Capitals on the board when he beat veteran Rockies goaltender Al Smith. With the teams skating four aside, Colorado's Lucien Deblois evened the score at 3:23 when he put the puck past Washington netminder Mike Palmateer. Just 27 seconds later, Washington's Jean Pronovost restored the Capital lead with a power play goal. A mere 33 seconds after Pronovost's goal, Colorado's Jack Hughes scored to tie the game at 2-2. For Hughes, a Harvard graduate, this was one of two goals scored in his NHL career. The Capitals regained the lead on Dennis Ververgaert's goal midway through the period and took a 4-2 lead on Dennis Maruk's goal with just over five minutes left. The Caps outshot the Rockies, 15-12.

Rockies rookie Paul Gagne scored at 4:34 of the second to bring Colorado within a goal. Seven minutes later, Mike Gillis scored for Colorado to tie it up. When Rob Ramage scored for the Rockies at 13:44 of the middle period, it gave Colorado its first lead of the night at 5-4 and closed out the second period scoring. The Rockies enjoyed a 12-4 advantage in shots on goal in the second.

Pronovost's second of the night tied the game for the Capitals at 1:51 of the third period. Just over a minute later, Wes Jarvis scored to give Washington a 6-5 lead. The Rockies answered at 7:37 of the third, tying the game at 6-6 on Ron Delorme's power play goal. With 5:18 remaining, Washington's Darren Veith broke the deadlock with a power play goal. Pronovost iced it with a power play empty-netter at 19:43, completing his hat trick in the process. The Caps were outshot 9-7 in the third and 33-26 for the game.

Washington's Ryan Walter set a club record in the game by notching an assist in his sixth straight contest.