The 1980-81 Washington Capitals weren't a good team. They finished the season with a 26-36-18 record which was good for 70 points and a fifth place finish in the Patrick Division. Their coach back then was Gary Green and their captain was Ryan Walter.
But on a glorious night at The Specturm up north, it was the Capitals who would steal the show on the ice in a 6-0 win over the Broad Street Bullies in the Philadelphia Flyers. It was to the turne of a 6-0 win on Dec. 21, 1980.
The Route over the Broad Street Bullies
Dennis Maruk got things started with a power play goal for his 23rd of the season which was assisted by Al Hangsleben and Jean Pronovost. That came at 14:35 in the first period.
In the second period at 9:59 Yvon Labre struck for his first of the season as the goal was assisted by Bob Kelly and Maruk. At 18:59 Pronovost got in on the fun with his 11th goal of the season. He then scored while the Caps were shorthanded 45 seconds into the third period off a feed from Wes Jarvis for Pronovost's 12th of the season.
At 13:50 Ryan Walter made it 5-0 with his 11th goal of the season off a feed at Dennis Ververgaert. At 19:15 on the power play Tim Tookey scored his second of the season to complete the route. Mike Palmateer got the win in goal as he stopped all 44 shots the Flyers faced.
This game also featured the Capitals in the sin bin for a total of 175 penalty minutes while the Flyers were in the box for 165. That only menas the Caps got the better of the fights. Washington only put up 29 shots on the night compared to the Flyers 44.
That win was signature as the Capitals had never beaten the Philadelphia Flyers proior to that game. It was 35 tries per the YouTube video above and the video even talks about how the Flyers used to bus their fans down to Landover, Maryland to take over the old Capital Centre.
So this win in the old Flyers barn was simply poetic. I'm sure the players were used to the boos from the Philly crowd and their beautiful performance that night in 1980 just before Christmas maybe gave the fans up there reasons to throw snowballs at Santa. I'm kidding but Eagles fans were known for that.