Ovechkin, Caps one step closer
Victory vs. Knights in Game 3 puts them two away from title
WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin went airborne, Evgeny Kuznetsov flapped his arms like a bird of prey and the Capitals are flying high, just two victories away from winning the Stanley Cup.
Ovechkin dived to score his 14th goal of the playoffs and raised his arms in joy when Kuznetsov broke out his signature bird celebration in a second period the two Russians long will remember. Led by their two best players, the Capitals beat the expansion Golden Knights 3- 1 on Saturday to take a 2- 1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Game 4 is scheduled for Monday in Washington.
‘‘ I thought it was sort of the right thing that in a playoff game, first [ home] victory in the Final, that Alex would score the first goal. It was sort of poetic justice, if you will, for all the tough times.’’
Fired up for the first Final game in Washington since 1998, the Capitals unloaded chance after chance on Knights goalie Marc- Andre Fleury, who made 23 saves but couldn’t backstop a disjointed team that lost back- to- back games for the first time in the playoffs.
At the other end, Capitals goalie Braden Holtby gifted Tomas Nosek a goal by giving the puck away but stopped the other 21 shots he faced from the Knights, who looked nothing like the team that won 13 of its first 16 playoff games.
‘‘ We haven’t been behind in any series,’’ Fleury said. ‘‘ It doesn’t mean we’re out of it.’’
They’re not out, but they’re down because Holtby was there when the Capitals needed him. Of course, they didn’t need him much because they were on the attack for much of the game.
In his first home game in the Final, Ovechkin attempted eight shots in the first period and scored a goal that seemed inevitable. It came 1: 10 into the second, when he went full extension over Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb to reach a rebound and backhanded the puck past Fleury.
Ovechkin’s joy then overflowed on the bench when Kuznetsov showed his injured left arm is just fine by scoring on a perfect wrist shot on an odd- man rush. Ovechkin looked to the ceiling with his arms extended as he was hugged by teammate Lars Eller.
‘‘ I think right now it’s just automatic,’’ Ovechkin said. ‘‘ You just get excited. It’s huge moments for us.’’
Capitals fans who have watched heartbreak after heartbreak in the playoffs easily could have been thinking the worst when the Knights scored early in the third. Holtby had his puck- handling attempt intercepted by PierreEdouard Bellemare, and the puck skittered to Nosek for an easy goal.
But Devante Smith- Pelly gave the Capitals an insurance goal with 6: 07 left after teammate Jay Beagle took the puck away from Shea Theodore on the forecheck and found him skating in alone on Fleury.
‘‘ I’ve always loved the playoffs,’’ Smith- Pelly said. ‘‘ I love scoring the big goals.’’