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The Capitals won in San Jose during regulation for the first time since October 30, 1993

By Ian Oland

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March 10, 2018 8:54 pm

The Washington Capitals’ 2-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday was sleepy, but it was also historic.

According to the New York Times, the Capitals had not won in regulation at San Jose since their first trip to the Shark Tank on October 30, 1993.

That’s an insane 25 years, folks. I was eight-years-old.

That October 30, 1993 victory saw Rick Tabaracci make 25 saves on 27 shots to earn the W. Craig Berube, Peter Bondra, and Mike Ridley scored goals while current NBC sports analyst Keith Jones tallied the game-winner. Sergei Makarov and Tom Pederson scored for the Sharks. The Caps won 4-2.

Berube, the Capitals enforcer, fought Doug Zmolek and finished an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick.

Hockey hall of famer Igor Larianov played in the game as well as NBC Sports Washington analyst Alan May (a hall of famer in his own mind).

Gaetan Duchesne also suited up for the Sharks that night. Duchesne died in April 2007 after suffering cardiac arrest. Former Caps coach Bruce Boudreau would later create a preseason tournament in his honor and the victors won the Gaetan Duchesne Cup.

More from the Washington Post:

In an effort to spice up this week’s intra-squad scrimmages (and have a little fun), Coach Bruce Boudreau has created a three team tournament in which each squad will play twice. The award will be the Gaeten Duchesne Cup, named after the former Capitals winger who died suddenly last year from a heart attack.

Team A will be coached by Dean Evason and Blaine Forsythe, whose lineup is highlighted by Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Viktor Kozlov, Tom Poti and Simeon Varlamov. Team B will be coached by Boudreau and Bob Woods, who’s got Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich and Jose Theodore. Team C, meantime, will be coached by Jay Leach and Mark French and it features Michael Nylander, Chris Clark, Mike Green, Francois Bouchard, Mathieu Perrealt, Karl Alzner and Brent Johnson.

“Gaetan was an eighth round draft choice and made the team. The epitomy of training camp is about the guys trying their [butts] off to make the team,” Boudreau said. “What better guy could we have than Gaetan?

Duchesne was the Capitals eighth-round draft pick in the 1981 NHL Draft. He made the NHL club out of his first training camp. The forward went on to play 1,028 NHL games, scoring 179 goals. According to The Hockey News, he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques along with forward Alan Haworth and a first-round draft pick – that turned out to be Joe Sakic – for Dale Hunter and goalie Clint Malarchuk.

The Capitals last win in San Jose was on February 11, 2015 in overtime during RMNB Party 6.

8:30 pm update: Alan May has responded to our article and is now showing off his Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame ring.

Full Coverage of Caps at Sharks

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington

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