April 15

On April 15, 1990, the Washington Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 at the Capital Centre. With the victory, the Capitals closed out the Devils in six games in the Patrick Division Semifinal series.

Washington got on the board first when Steve Leach scored an unassisted goal with just 11 seconds remaining in the first period. New Jersey fired 13 shots at Washington's Don Beaupre in the opening stanza while the Caps countered with 10 on the Devils' Chris Terreri.

The Caps pushed the lead to 2-0 on Geoff Courtnall's goal - his second of the playoffs - at 3:27 of the second period. John Tucker and Scott Stevens earned assists on the Courtnall goal. New Jersey's John MacLean halved the lead with his fourth goal of the series at 13:21 of the middle period. For the second straight period, the Caps capitalized in the final minute of the frame. This time it was John Druce scoring his third of the playoffs with just 54 seconds left in the second. Kevin Hatcher and Rod Langway were credited with the helpers. The Capitals outshot the Devils 13-10 in the second.

Peter Stastny scored at the five-minute mark of the third period to draw the Devils within a goal but the Washington defense held the rest of the way, sending Washington to a date with the New York Rangers in the Patrick Division Finals. The Devils outshot Washington 13-11 in the third period and 34-32 on the night.

With 32 saves, Beaupre was the game's number one star. Druce's game-winner earned him the second star and New Jersey's Terreri was named third star on the strength of his 29-save performance in the Devils nets.