This Date in Caps History - March 3

On March 3, 1996, the Washington Capitals shutout the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 before a sellout crowd of 18,130 at USAir Arena.

With 46 seconds remaining in the first period, Sergei Gonchar scored his 10th goal of the season to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. In a tightly contested defensive struggle, the teams combined for just eight shots on goal in the period. Washington outshot the Flyers 5-3.

The Flyers opened the throttle in the second period, pouring 16 shots at Capitals goaltender Jim Carey. Washington managed only five shots of its own, but two of them found the back of the net behind Philadelphia goaltender Ron Hextall. With Chris Therien off for holding, Steve Konowalchuk netted his 22nd goal of the season. The power play goal gave Washington a 2-0 advantage.

Less than two minutes later, Jeff Nelson sprung Kevin "Killer" Kaminski on a breakaway. Kaminski skated in, deked and put the puck past Hextall just as he was hauled down from behind. The puck, Hextall and Kaminski all went careening into the net and the cage slid off its moorings and into the end boards. The goal was Kaminski's first of the season and turned out to be his only goal of the season.

Each team had eight shots on goal in the third, but there was no more scoring. Carey made 27 saves to register his sixth shutout of the season and the 10th of his Washington career. The whitewash was Carey's second in as many days; he shut out the Boston Bruins in Boston the previous afternoon. By the end of the Philadelphia contest, Carey boasted a shutout streak of 175:38.