This Date in Caps History - January 29

On January 29, 1977 the Washington Capitals earned a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues in St. Louis.

Washington got on the board first when Ace Bailey scored on a power play at 1:28 of the first. Gerry Meehan and Guy Charron collected the assists. Less than a minute later, the Caps took a 2-0 lead when Hartland Monahan scored with help from Bailey and Jean Lemieux. Bill Riley gave Washington a three-goal advantage when he tallied at 16:25 of the opening frame. Meehan and Gord Lane picked up assists on Riley's goal. The Blues put seven shots on Washington netminder Ron Low in the first while the Caps countered with six in the direction of St. Louis' Doug Grant.

Grant was lifted in favor of venerable veteran Eddie Johnston at the start of the second period. With the Caps enjoying a man advantage midway through the second period, Lemieux scored to push Washington's lead to 4-0. Charron and Meehan earned the helpers on Lemieux's goal. St. Louis finally solved Low at 16:54 of the second but needed a two-man advantage to do so. Bob MacMillan beat Low to break the scoreless spell. With just 33 seconds left in the middle period and the clubs playing four-on-four, Charron scored his 25th goal of the season with help from Jack Lynch. The Blues outshot the Caps 15-5 in the second and Washington led 5-1 after two periods of play.

St. Louis stormed the Washington end for most of the third but could only score once. That occurred at 13:53 when Garry Unger beat Low. The Blues outshot the Caps 16-2 in the third and 38-13 on the night.

The win was Washington's third in succession, matching the franchise's all-time high at that point. The Caps had won three straight earlier in that same 1976-77 season.