How Was This Not The Headline?

The image to the left is a very minimalist way of showing the Washington Capitals prevailing over the California Golden Seals. While this wouldn't be any sort of recent revelation, this picture may have meant a lot on March 28, 1975. It wasn't the fact that the Capitals evened the two-game season series with the Golden Seals nor was it even a meaningful game when it came to playoff positions. Both teams would miss the playoffs that season, and the entire 1974-75 season was one that Washington Capitals fans would like to forget despite that 1975 season being the team's first campaign. So why was this game so important? And to what headline am I referring?

If you know your hockey history, you already know I'm talking about the Washington Capitals team that set an NHL record for futility. Not only were they bad at 8-67-5 that season, they finished 20 points back of the Kansas City Scouts for dead last in the NHL. The headline, though, that shocked me was that the Washington Capitals finally did something they had not done on March 28, yet The Canadian Press decided to lead with something else that seems less historic.

Look, I take nothing away from Eric Vail's NHL season that he completed in 1975, but the more historic part of that entire passage is the part I've isolated to the right where the Washington Capitals won their first road game of the season on March 28, 1975. That win over the California Golden Seals would be the only points that the Capitals earned away from Landover, Maryland that season as they finished the season with a 1-39-0 record on the road. For the record, Atlanta Flames forward Eric Vail did win the Calder Trophy, but, if I hadn't told you, would you have known?

As described in the article, Doug Mohns scored a power-play goal at 3:04 of the first period before they doubled their lead 1:08 later when Ron Anderson beat Gilles Meloche for a 2-0 lead. California's Butch Williams would cut the lead in half when he scored at 15:57, but the Capitals would restore lead 52 seconds later when Gord Smith scored to make it 3-1 for Washington after 20 minutes of play.

Charlie Simmer would make it a 3-2 game with the only goal of the second period, and it felt like this game might get away from Washington when Dave Gardner scored 5:05 into the third period. Howver, a pair of goals by Nelson Pyatt at 6:31 and into the empty net at 19:44 gave Washington their first road victory in franchise history, and, according to WTOP News, "[t]he Capitals held a spontaneous celebration after the win, taking a garbage can from the visitor's dressing room and parading it around the rink. This would later become known as the 'Stanley Can' celebration".

I have no idea who was writing the copy for The Canadian Press that night, but how on earth did that story not lead over Eric Vail's game-tying goal? I get that Vail had a big season with 39 goals in 1975, but the Capitals snapped a 17-game losing streak and a 37-game road losing streak with their win. They would go 1-3-0 in their final four games to finish with a .131 winning percentage, the worst, by far, in NHL history. Yet Eric Vail was the headline on March 29, 1975.

The crazy part is that the Capitals almost earned their first road point on March 1, 1975 against the Toronto Maple Leafs when Stan Gilbertson scored with 4:45 left to put the Captitals up 4-3 on the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Dave Keon, however, would score at 18:35 to make it a 4-4 game, and it seemed like this game may end in a draw.

With seven seconds left on the clock, however, there was a scramble in front of the Washington net that Ron Low occupied. Despite several players battling for the puck, it would be George Ferguson who found the loose puck and zipped it past Low to give the Maple Leafs the 5-4 win, dashing Washington's hopes of ending their road woes at 33 games without a point. It seemed like it would never end.

You may be wondering how the next games went if the Capitals came that close in Toronto, and I'm here to tell you that they lost 8-4 to Montreal, 12-1 to Pittsburgh, 8-2 to Boston, and 5-1 to Los Angeles before finally conquering the Golden Seals. Through the entire season, the Capitals lost on the road by one goal just three times, so saying it was a rough season on the road is pure understatement.

Somehow, though, Eric Vail's scoring got The Canadian Press's headline over the most historic win in Capitals' franchise history.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!