This Date in Caps History - December 18

On December 18, 1976, the Capitals traveled to Pittsburgh for a date with the Penguins. In their third season in the NHL, the Capitals were still seeking their first-ever December road victory. Washington left Pittsburgh that night with a 5-3 win in its hip pocket.

Washington's Ace Bailey opened the scoring at 3:11 of the first when he slipped a puck past Penguins goalie Dunc Wilson. Guy Charron and Bugsy Watson earned assists. But Pierre Larouche, Blair Chapman and Jean Pronovost scored unanswered goals for the home team to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead early in the second period.

With 3:19 left in the middle frame, Pittsburgh's "Battleship" Bob Kelly received a double-minor for tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct. Washington took advantage of the transgression to get back into the game

Nineteen seconds after Kelly took a seat in the sin bin, Gerry Meehan converted a feed from Charron to pull the Caps within a goal. And 25 seconds after the second Washington goal, Charron and Meehan set up Hartland Monahan for the tying tally. For Charron, it was his third assist of the night.

Midway through the third period, Tony White scored to give Washington its first lead of the evening. The Caps held on and Bailey added an empty-netter in the waning seconds to close out the scoring.

Goaltender Ron Low stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced to earn the win for Washington.