This Date in Caps History - January 10

On January 10, 1977, the Capitals registered their first-ever road shutout and just the second blanking in franchise history with a 2-0 win over the Red Wings in Detroit.

Former Red Wing Bill Collins opened the scoring for the Caps at 2:38 of the first. With Washington's Bugsy Watson - another former Red Wing - cooling his heels in the penalty box, Collins scored a shorthanded goal with assists from Ron Lalonde and Gord Lane. The Red Wings mustered 11 shots on Washington netminder Bernie Wolfe in the opening period while Washington countered with seven against Detroit's Jim Rutherford.

Washington's Yvon Labre extended the Capital lead to 2-0 at 17:28 of the second when he converted a feed from Tony White. The Capitals outshot the Wings 8-7 in the second.

Washington weathered eight Detroit shots without incident in the third while putting five shots of its own on Rutherford. The highlight of the third period was a fight between Washington's Labre and Detroit's Dennis Polonich at 7:42.

The game was played before a mere 7,213 patrons at the Olympia in Detroit. The shutout was the first of Wolfe's NHL career and the win - Washington's 12th of the season - set a new club standard for victories in a season.