This Date in Caps History - January 16

On January 16, 1999, the Washington Capitals forged a 3-2, come-from-behind overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Carolina’s Keith Primeau opened the scoring with a power play goal at 6:16 of the first period. Peter Bondra answered for Washington at 9:26 with his 14th goal of the season. James Black picked up the solo assist on Bondra’s goal. The Capitals put 14 shots on Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe in the first period while the Canes responded with 10 shots of their own against Washington’s Olie Kolzig.

The two clubs skated to a scoreless second period with Washington holding a significant 12-4 advantage in shots on goal.

Just 59 seconds into the third period, the Hurricanes took the lead on a Glen Wesley goal. Midway through the third period, the Caps got the equalizer when Brian Bellows netted his eight of the season. Andrei Nikolishin and Joe Juneau assisted on the Bellows strike. For the third straight period, the Capitals out shot the Hurricanes, this time by 11-7.

It didn’t take long for the Caps to claim victory in the extra session. Just nine seconds into the action, Kelly Miller took a feed from Nikolishin and beat Irbe for the game-winner. It was Miller’s first goal of the campaign.

The game-winning goal was sufficient to get Miller the game’s first star. Primeau took the second star on the strength of a goal and an assist. Irbe stopped 35 of the 38 pucks launched his way and earned the third star.