Caps hold on, even Stanley Cup Final
LAS VEGAS » Alex Ovechkin, Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals stayed cool in the 100-degree Vegas heat and evened the Stanley Cup Final.
Holtby made 37 saves, Ovechkin scored a power-play goal and Lars Eller added a goal and two assists in the Capitals’ 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 on Wednesday night.
The Caps hung on through a scoreless third period for their first Stanley Cup Final victory in franchise history largely because of a bounce-back performance by Holtby, who was battered in Vegas’ 6-4 series-opening win.
Holtby capped his energetic performance with a jaw-dropping stick save with 1:59 to play, stretching back to rob Alex Tuch of a possible tying goal.
“We refocus and pick each other up and that’s a sign of a good team,” Holtby said. “That’s one of our strengths.”
Brooks Orpik ended a personal 220-game drought with the eventual winning goalfor the Caps, who rebounded from a loss in the opener and handed the expansion Golden Knights only their second home defeat — the first in regulation — in Vegas’ nine postseason games.
James Neal and Shea Theodore scored and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23 shots for the upstart Knights, who couldn’t summon their usual clutch third period, even man advantages.
Washington lost leading scorer Evgeny Kuznetsov to an upperbody injury in the first period after a big hit from Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb.
The Caps are just 4-5 at home in the postseason, but they’ll ride a wave of momentum after going into the Golden Knights’ daunting home arena and taking away homeice advantage in their first Stanley Cup Final in 20 years.
The Caps improved to 9-3 on the road in the postseason after two games in this frequently chaotic series.
The first two games of the Stanley Cup Final were split for only the third time in the last 13 editions of the NHL’s final round. magic in the with lengthy