March 14

On March 14, 1989, the Washington Capitals defeated the Winnipeg Jets by a 6-3 score at Winnipeg Arena.

Washington jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 2:35 of the first period on Michal Pivonka's sixth goal of the season. Bob Gould and Mike Ridley picked up the assists. Just over a minute later, the Caps made it 2-0 on Geoff Courtnall's 36th of the season. Steve Leach and Calle Johansson picked up the assists on Courtnall's goal. Kelly Miller's 15th goal of the season pushed the Washington lead to 3-0 at 6:28 of the first, Ridley and Pivonka assisting. Ridley netted his 36th of the season at 14:31 of the first to give the Caps a 4-0 lead. Pivonka and Miller collected the helpers on Ridley's goal. Washington had 11 shots on Winnipeg netminder Pokey Reddick and the Jets also had 11 against Caps goaltender Pete Peeters.


Dave Ellett broke the goose egg for Winnipeg when he netted a shorthanded goal at 10:58 of the second period. Brent Ashton shrunk the Capitals' lead to 4-2 when he scored for the Jets at 17:25. Each team had 10 shots on goal in the second period.


At 3:33 of the third period, Ashton scored again - this time on a Jets power play - to pull Winnipeg within one at 4-3. Courtnall restored some breathing room when he scored his 37th of the season and second of the night on a Washington power play at 15:02 of the third. Bengt Gustafsson and Dave Christian collected assists on Courtnall's third period strike. With 35 seconds remaining in regulation, John Druce iced it for the Caps with an empty-netter, his seventh goal of the season. Peeters picked up the lone assist on the Druce goal. Both clubs had 11 shots on goal in the third and 32 on the evening.


With a pair of goals, Courtnall was named the game's first star. Winnipeg's Ashton also had a pair of goals and he was the number two star on the night. Pivonka had a goal and two assists, good enough for the evening's third star.

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