View from Washington
WASHINGTON — Fans lined up nearly two hours before the game to get into Capitol One Arena in Chinatown, a bustling place of bars, bodegas and eateries.
The Capitals were throwing a watch party in the arena, and fans streamed into downtown D.C. on the subway line from Maryland suburbs with bright red jerseys, T-shirts and caps.
“Rock the Red” parties also took place across the city and in Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
It was 20 years ago that the Caps were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1998 Stanley Cup Final, a sore spot that many fans here hope the Capitals will avenge.
Gary Martin
Michael Linton, 32, of Las Vegas, and his wife, Emily, 30, said they never cared much for hockey until moving to Las Vegas from the East Coast.
“I think it really is the fact that the team started after Oct. 1,” he said, referring to the mass shooting on the Strip that killed 58 and wounded hundreds of others. “The community came together.”
Angela Talkington, 25, returned home this holiday weekend to visit family and experience firsthand the excitement around the Knights.
“Everyone’s out today wearing their gear, which you never see out here,” said Talkington, who moved to Michigan in October. “To actually have something, which is ours, is cool.”
Contact Todd Prince at tprince@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter. Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @ mike_shoro. Jessie Bekker and
Rachel Crosby in Las Vegas, and Gary Martin in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.