Capitals crowned Stanley Cup champions in Las Vegas
Washington ends its 43-year drought, rallying behind Ovie for an emotional first NHL crown
LAS VEGAS — One dream is over. Another is finally realized.
The storybook season of the Vegas Golden Knights came to a somewhat abrupt end on Thursday night, as the Washington Capitals came from behind and won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history with a 4-3 victory in Game 5.
A city that had gone 43 years without a hockey championship finally has something to celebrate. And the fans finally have a hero.
Alex Ovechkin can breathe easy. After years of heartbreak and frustration, the Washington captain has done it. He’s answered his critics, who said he lacked heart and the leadership skills to win it all.
Ovechkin, who was a force in these playoffs, now has his Cup. And the playoff MVP has a Conn Smythe Trophy to go along with it.
“I think this is just like a dream,” said Ovechkin, flanked by the two trophies during a post-game news conference. “It was a hard, long season. We fight through it and we worked so hard through all the years. We were together. It was whole, one team.”
It was Lars Eller who scored the game-winning goal on a rebound that trickled through the legs of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at 12:23 in the third period. But it was Ovechkin, who also scored in Game 5, leading the playoffs with 15 goals and finishing second to Evgeny Kuznetsov in overall scoring with 27 points.
“Ovie had a different step tonight,” said Caps winger T.J. Oshie. “He had it a lot in these players and you watch his shifts, watch how he changed the momentum in the game tonight.
“That’s your leader, that’s what you want him to do. A very well-deserved Conn Smythe — not only for his goals but for his leadership.”
After the game, fans at T-Mobile Arena stood and chanted: “Go Knights Go!” It was an honourable sendoff for a team that ultimately fell short of its quest to do the impossible, but will still have achieved something that we will be talking about for years. No one expected Vegas to get this far. No one had even expected a playoff appearance.
But the Golden Knights, who had lost just three times in the first three rounds of the playoffs, ran out of magic against a Capitals team that was too fast, too physical and seemed to be on a path of destiny after finally defeating the Penguins in the second round.
No one was going to stand in Washington’s pursuit of a Cup — not even Vegas, which gave its opponents everything it had in Game 5.
“I just wanted to do whatever I can to win the Cup — and we did it,” said Ovechkin. “It’s something I can’t explain. It’s unbelievable.”
After a scoreless first period in Game 5, things got wild as both teams traded goals and lead changes in a second period where every shot seemed to find the back of the net.
Washington took a 1-0 lead and Vegas tied it up three minutes later. Thirty-four seconds after that, the Capitals scored again to go ahead 2-1. But the Golden Knights refused to go down with a fight. They tied the game two minutes later and then took a 3-2 lead with 28.2 seconds left in the period.
It was a dizzying display of offence and perhaps the best period of hockey so far in this final.
Caps’ Jakub Vrana got things started at 6:24 in the first on a breakaway goal for his third of the playoffs. The Golden Knights answered back when Nate Schmidt shot a puck into traffic that redirected off Washington defenceman Matt Niskanen’s skate. But not even a minute had gone by when Ovechkin put the Capitals ahead 2-1 on a one-timer from his office at the side of the net on a pass from Nicklas Backstrom.
The goals kept coming — and from unlikely sources.
David Perron, who had been a healthy scratch for Game 4, scored his first of the playoffs on a play where he was shoved into Washington’s Braden Holtby. Shortly after, Dmitry Orlov fumbled the puck in the defensive zone and Ovechkin was forced to take a penalty that Vegas’ Reilly Smith capitalized on for a 3-2 lead.
It was the first time since the first period of Game 2 that the Golden Knights were ahead in the series. And as both teams entered the third period, it seemed like this might be heading back to Washington for Game 6.
Instead, on a night where every shot was destined for the back of the net, the Caps came back again.
Down a goal with 10:08 remaining in the period, fourth-liner Devante SmithPelly came up big again when he took a pass in front and slid around an outstretched Fleury. It was his seventh goal of the playoffs, tying his goal total from the entire regular season.
Less than three minutes later, a point shot from Brett Connolly found its way through Fleury’s pads and Eller swept the puck in the net. Just like that, the Capitals were back in the lead.
And this time, there was no way they were going to give it up.
“It didn’t matter what happened,” said Ovechkin. “Even after the third period, we knew we just had to push it and get the result. That’s it.”