Washington wakes up after Kuznetsov felled by big check
Evgeny Kuznetsov grabbed his arm or his shoulder and maybe, while he was helping himself off the ice, he grabbed his Washington Capitals teammates and gave them a little shake.
They needed it.
When the Capitals’ No. 1 centre left Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final with just over five minutes to play in the first period — and his absence will certainly become more of a story assuming disclosure of his injury — it was almost as though Washington came to life. The Capitals returned to the kind of physical, engaged form they needed to win the Eastern Conference final.
The more they missed Kuznetsov, who leads the playoffs in scoring, the more they got from third-line centre Lars Eller and the rest of the lineup, which decided to push back against the surprising Vegas Golden Knights.
Injury aside, it was role reversal from Game 1 here at T-Mobile Arena. In Game 1, a much-discussed hit on Jonathan Marchessault by big Tom Wilson appeared to tilt the game in favour of Vegas. Marchessault did return to play. Kuznetsov was not so fortunate.
The Caps led 3-2 after two periods and held on to win by the same score and tie the series 1-1.
Washington can’t afford to have Kuznetsov out for long, but the emotional lift was noticeable in Game 2.
Kuznetsov centres the big line with Alexander Ovechkin, has emerged as a big-time playoff performer and is key on the impressive power play.
PUCK NOTES
Eller scored his sixth goal of this playoff season Wednesday night, which equalled his total in 50 post-season games with St. Louis and Montreal. Eller was expected to be a free agent come July, but he did the hockey thing and re-signed with the Caps in the winter. He was in on all three Washington goals in Game 2 and has proven to be a valuable and versatile third-line centre who can move up in the lineup, if necessary ... Hello Ovie: And Welcome to the Stanley Cup final. Ovechkin, so brilliant in Game 6 and Game 7 against Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference final, scored his first goal of his first Stanley Cup final from his office, on the power play in the second period. Ovechkin did show a side of his leadership in the previous round, especially in Game 6, when he was the best player on the ice and didn’t have to score to prove that ... This will get talked about, no doubt. Big guy Ryan Reaves cross-checked big guy Tom Wilson in the face and bloodied the Washington forward in the second period. Oddly, he was penalized for roughing. It could have easily been a four-minute call ... T.J. Oshie, a very skilled forward, occasionally takes somewhat mindless penalties. He took one late in the second period and Shea Theodore scored on a screened shot, beating Braden Holtby, who never saw the shot coming ... When the home team wins the first two games of a series, they have won 92.3 per cent of the time in previous Cup finals. The last team to win the first two games and not win the Cup: the 2011 Vancouver Canucks ... What a delight it is to watch MarcAndre Fleury play goal. He is not a robotic butterfly goaltender. He is more old-school, hybrid style, very athletic, and fun to watch.
HEAR AND THERE
Game 1 of the final was just the third game in NHL playoff history to see four lead changes. The two previous games were not in the Cup final ... Fleury is the first goalie since Dominik Hasek (Buffalo, Detroit) to represent two teams in a final series ... The last time a first-year team won a major championship: the 1950 Cleveland Browns won the NFL title long before there were Super Bowls ... There has been a lot of concern about the quality of ice at T-Mobile, especially after a difficult night in Game 1. “There isn’t anything we can do about it,” said Oshie of the Capitals. “We’re playing on the same ice, if it’s bad for them, it’s bad for us.” Oshie does think that lessthan-ideal ice hurts the Capitals more than it hurts the Golden Knights. The reason? “We have more skill players.” Said Capitals coach Barry Trotz on the reality of ice difficulty: “Let’s face it, it’s 100 degrees out, there are 20,000 people in the arena making all kinds of noise. With that, we knew ice would be problematic.” ... Bad ice or not, Trotz didn’t like the way his team played in Game 1 and, frankly, didn’t like the way the Golden Knights played. “That game wasn’t a true reflection on both teams,” said Trotz. “It was a bit of a scramble with lots of chaos.” ... The Las Vegas band, Imagine Dragons, who were halftime entertainment at the 2014 Grey Cup, played a pre-game inarena concert Wednesday night. Like just about everything Vegas seems to do pre-game, it was impressive ... For as great as this Vegas story has been, it hasn’t caught everyone’s attention. The NHL has to be disappointed there is no media coverage here from Boston, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Colorado, Carolina, San Jose, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Columbus, Arizona, New Jersey — more than half of the league’s cities.