March 26

On March 26, 1980, the Capitals defeated the St. Louis Blues by a 4-2 score at USAir Arena in Landover.

Washington's Bengt Gustafsson got the scoring started at 6:24 of the first period. The goal was Gustafsson's 20th of the season and came on a feed from fellow Swede Rolf Edberg. At 15:06 of the first, St. Louis's Bernie Federko cashed in on the power play to tie the score at 1-1. The Capitals launched 13 shots against St. Louis goaltender Mike Liut in the first period while the Blues countered with 11 on Washington's Wayne Stephenson.

The Capitals' Paul Mulvey scored the lone goal of the second period at 2:48 to provide Washington with a 2-1 advantage. Ryan Walter collected a solo assist on the Mulvey score. Washington outshot the Blues 16-9 in the middle frame.

Mike Gartner extended the Washington lead to 3-1 at 2:15 of the third period, Walter and Mulvey assisting. Edberg netted an insurance tally for the Capitals at 8:42 with Robert Picard assisting. The Blues' Ian Turnbull cut into the Caps' lead with a power-play goal at the 16:26 mark but Washington held on for the win. The Capitals held a 9-7 edge in third period shots on goal and outshot the Blues on the evening by a 38-27 count.

With the victory, the Capitals tied their franchise record for most points in a season at 63.

Return to the This Day in Capitals History calendar