CAP IT OFF
WASHINGTON — Evgeny Kuznetsov smiled about getting four assists. He tried not to smile too much at the thought of being one win away from the Stanley Cup.
With Kuznetsov and goaltender Braden Holtby leading the way, the Capitals are one win away from capturing the first title in their 43rd season after routing the Golden Knights 6-2 on Monday night to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals will get their first chance to hoist the Cup in Game 5 on Thursday night back in Las Vegas.
“I’ve never been there,” Kuznetsov said after just the fourth four-assist game in Cup final history. “And I don’t really care about that yet, so it’s kind of easy for me. You know me, I always stay loose a little bit especially off the games. I’m pretty sure when game gonna come, we’re gonna a little bit think about it. It’s pretty hard to not think about that.”
T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly all scored in the first period to get the Capitals rolling against a determined Vegas team that has not found consistent answers against Holtby, who stopped 28 shots in another strong showing. The Golden Knights outchanced the Capitals by a wide margin but fell apart after James Neal clanked a shot off the post instead of hitting a wide-open net early, and the expansion team’s Cinderella run could be over in a matter of days.
“It probably changes the game,” Neal said. “It’s proba- bly a different game after that I had a wide-open net, and then I just hit the post.”
John Carlson, Michal Kempny and Brett Connolly also scored as thunderous chants of “We want the Cup! We want the Cup!” rang out from the crowd. No team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1942 has blown a 3-1 lead in the Cup final.
“It can be easy in a game where you can clinch to get a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Oshie said. “But we’ve got a good group of leaders in the room ... and we’ll be focused at the start.” —