The Washington Capitals made history on Saturday night at Capital One Arena. By beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1, they secured their 1,000th win on home ice. The Capitals have been around since 1974 when they played at the old Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland before moving to Chinatown in 1997.
According to Capitals Public Relations, the Caps are the 15th team in NHL history to win 1,000 home games and the first franchise to do so that entered the NHL in 1974 or later. They are also the 10th fastest team to win 1,000 home games in NHL history.
Charlie Lindgren got the start in goal for the first time since opening night and he was excellent with 34 saves which included 14 in the third period for the win. It was his first win of the season.
Tom Wilson got the scoring started for the Caps at 12:21 for his third goal of the season. Wilson split between two defenders, got pushed down and lost his balance but shot the puck in the net just before the fall.
At 17:21 Sonny Milano potted his second goal of the season. It came when Rasmus Sandin fed the puck to Nick Jensen. The defenseman acquired in the 2019 trade deadline then faked a shot. It looked like the form of the shot but it was a pass to a wide open Milano on the side of the net for the slam dunk.
2-0 Caps was the score while they were outshot 13-8. In the second period the Caps outshot the Blue Jackets 12-8. In the third period the Caps were outshot 14-7 with a grand total of being outshot 35-27. Lindgren was dynamite especially in the third.
The Blue Jackets got on the board at 1:38 in the second with a tip in from Dmitri Voronkov. That was all they got as they failed to tie it in the third period despite putting up 14 shots.
The Capitals are off from game action until Wednesday night when they host the Florida Panthers at 7:30 p.m. in a nationally televised contest on TNT and HBO Max.