This Date in Caps History - December 7

On December 7, 1992, the Washington Capitals made their first ever journey to Ottawa to take on the expansion Senators. Washington came home with a win, but what appeared to be a rout turned into a 6-5 nail-biter.

The Capitals scored four times in the first period to take a 4-0 lead by the 15:33 mark. Mike Ridley, Sylvain Cote, Peter Bondra and Dale Hunter dented the twine behind Ottawa goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz. But before the first period was over, Ottawa managed to slice the lead in half on goals from Jeff Lazaro and Sylvain Turgeon.

Veteran goalie Steve Weeks took over for Sidorkiewicz to start the second period. Play tightened up a bit, as Washington's Kevin Hatcher scored the lone goal of the frame on a Capitals power play.

The Caps pushed the margin to 6-2 at 5:27 of the third on Kelly Miller's seventh goal of the season. Exactly a minute later, Turgeon tallied for the second time bring the Senators within three. Fifty-seven seconds after Turgeon's goal, Andrew McBain slid the puck past Washington goaltender Don Beaupre to cut the Caps' lead to 6-4.

With 6:14 remaining, Turgeon fed longtime European winger Tomas Jelinek, who beat Beaupre to make it a 6-5 contest. Washington closedranks and managed to escape Canada with a 6-5 win on goals by six differentskaters.