This Date in Caps History - January 12

On January 12, 2000, the Washington Capitals defeated the Atlanta Thrashers by a 5-2 score at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

Former Capital Andrew Brunette started the scoring for Atlanta with his 16th of the season at 5:15 of the first period. Sergei Gonchar tied it up for Washington at 15:16 with a power play goal, his eighth of the season. Dmitri Mironov assisted on the Gonchar strike. Just 22 seconds later, the Caps took the lead on Jan Bulis’s ninth goal of the season, Richard Zednik assisting. At 16:40, Mike Eagles scored his second of the season to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead. Ken Klee registered the lone assist on the Eagles goal. Washington had 11 shots on Atlanta netminder Scott Fankhouser while the Thrashers countered with seven against Washington’s Olie Kolzig.

The second period was scoreless, with Washington outshooting the Thrashers by a 7-4 margin.

Andrei Nikolishin scored his fifth of the season at 4:03 to give Washington a 4-1 lead. Steve Konowalchuk got the solo helper on Nikolishin’s goal. Ray Ferraro cut the deficit to two with his 11th of the season at 12:05. At 18:27, Chris Simon closed out the evening’s scoring with his 10th goal of the season. For the fifth time on five goals, there was a lone assist, this one to Gonchar. The Caps outshot the Thrash 6-5 in the third and 24-18 on the night.

Gonchar was the game’s number one star with a goal and an assist. Nikolishin’s goal earned him the second star and Atlanta’s Andreas Karlsson was named third star.

Because of a scheduling quirk, it was the third straight game featuring the Caps and the Thrashers. The Thrashers won in Atlanta, 3-1, on January 6. The Caps returned the favor, shutting out the Thrashers 3-0 at MCI Center on January 8.