On Sunday evening, over 500 Washington Capitals fans and the team gathered at the MGM National Harbor for the annual Caps Casino Night. The evening, which raises money for Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation, features current and past Capitals and staff playing casino games with fans, as well as a live and silent auction which raised more than $400,000.

Each player mingled with fans throughout the night, talking about all sorts of topics and also spending time signing autographs and taking photos. The cherry on top of a great evening was the special guest–the Stanley Cup.

This year’s Casino Night will be remembered for the record-breaking bids on two player experiences which were auctioned off. The first included the chance to bowl with Nicklas Backstrom, Andre Burakovsky, TJ Oshie, and Tom Wilson. As bidding came in, Backstrom felt generous and added a signed stick from each of the four players and four tickets to a game with a meet and greet afterwards. The bidding closed at $20,000 and Oshie ran into the crowd to thank the winning couple.

The second auction item was a mixology class at Dirty Habit with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Braden Holtby, and Jakub Vrana. Likewise, Ovechkin generously added signed sticks, a locker room tour, and a signed pair of his game-used gloves. The winning family bid a remarkable $37,000 and were personally thanked by the four players.

The top item available in the silent auction was a hand-painted group photo by Taylor Kampa Olson of TKO Paintings. She originally painted portraits of DC sports stars to be placed in the bar of the restaurant Circa, near Capital One Arena.

All Photos

Photos: Cara Bahniuk