Capitals score convincing victory, push Vegas to brink in Cup Final
WASHINGTON — T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly scored in the final 10 minutes of the first period after Vegas hit two early posts as the Washington Capitals defeated the expansion Golden Knights 6-2 on Monday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.
John Carlson, Michal Kempny and Brett Connolly had the other goals for Washington. Braden Holtby made 28 saves for the Capitals, who can wrap up their first title when the series shifts to Vegas for Game 5 on Thursday.
Evgeny Kuznetsov, the NHL’s leading scorer in the playoffs with 31 points, added four assists. Oshie added a pair of assists, while Nicklas Backstrom had three.
James Neal and Reilly Smith replied for Vegas, which got 17 stops from Marc-Andre Fleury. The Knights won the opener of the best-of-seven series, but have now lost three straight games for the first time since late November and early December.
Game 6, if necessary, would be back in Washington on Sunday night. The only team in NHL history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in a final to hoist the Cup was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who won four straight after losing the first three games to the Detroit Red Wings.
After the Capitals weathered a Vegas push thanks to some good luck, along with poor execution from the visitors, Oshie made it 1-0 at 9:54 of the first on the power play after Knights defenceman Colin Miller went off for tripping.
Wilson made it 2-0 with 3:34 left in the period when he intercepted a pass by Vegas defenceman Deryk Engelland and worked a slick give-and-go with Kuznetsov to beat Fleury for his fifth.
Smith-Pelly stretched the lead to three with 20.5 seconds left on the clock, kicking the puck from his skate to his stick before roofing his sixth off a hard feed from Alex Ovechkin, who had hit the post earlier in the period with the teams scoreless.
Carlson blasted his fifth beyond Fleury’s glove with 4:37 remaining in the second to make it 4-0 on only the Capitals’ 14th shot and they hung on in the third.