Washington Capitals: Peter Bondra’s 5-goal game
One notable game in Peter Bondra’s Washington Capitals career came just over 25 years ago.
On February 5, 1994 the Washington Capitals hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning in what would be a memorable contest at the Capital Centre (aka US Airways Arena). Peter Bondra was struggling throughout the season but had a game for the ages with five goals in Washington’s 6-3 win.
The Capitals were just the sixth game into a coaching change with Jim Schoenfeld taking over for Terry Murray after the Capitals were 20-23-4. One adjustment Schoenfeld made was placing Bondra on a line with Dmitri Khristich and Dale Hunter. Heading into the contest, the Capitals were 3-2-0 in Schoenfeld’s five games.
Craig Berube was called for slashing at 13:44 and the Lightning struck on the power play for the game’s first goal from Shawn Chambers. Then it was Peter Bondra all by himself with four unanswered goals. The Capitals scored six unanswered goals in total with Steve Konowalchuk netting the fifth and Bondra adding the sixth for his fifth and final goal of the night.
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Bondra’s first goal came 27 seconds after the Chambers goal to tie it on a rebound from around the net. Hunter and Sylvain Cote were credited with the assists. 15 seconds later Khristich found Bondra for a speedy breakaway to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. The Capitals got a power play at 16:43 with Roman Hamrlik‘s second penalty of the game. His first one was holding while the latest crime was hooking. Seven seconds into the power play, the hats came flying down.
On the power play attack off the face-off, Kristich found Hunter in front of the net. Hunter quickly dished it to Bondra near the outside. Bondra finished the sharp-angle shot for the hat trick.
At 18:56, Bondra added his fourth flying past two defenders off a perfect-placed deep pass from Hunter. Bondra finished the breakaway for his fourth goal in the first period to make it 4-1.
The Capitals added to their lead at 7:49 in the second period with a goal from Steve Konowalchuk assisted by Randy Burridge and Mike Ridley. Bondra capped off his night with his fifth goal with 30 seconds left in the second. Kristich got the puck to Shawn Anderson, who fed a quick strike to Bondra for the finish.
The Lightning scored twice in the third on goals from Danton Cole and Marc Bureau but it wasn’t enough as the Capitals cruised to a 6-3 win. Hunter and Khristich each recorded three assists on the night.
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According to an article on WashingtonCaps.com from the milestone, Bondra is the only Capitals player to score four goals in a period and one of 11 NHL players to score four goals in a period. He’s among a short list that includes Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.