As unbelievable as it may seem, we are fast approaching the five-year anniversary of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup win. To celebrate, over the next two months we’re going to be taking you on a journey back in time to that magical run – reliving every game, five years to the day from when it was first played.
So strap in for the ups and downs, highs and lows, all leading up to a celebration of the greatest moment in franchise history.
Follow along with all of our “Five Years Ago Today…” recaps here.
The Series:
Stanley Cup Final – Capitals (1) vs. Golden Knights (1); Series tied 1-1
The Setting:
June 2, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC
Game in a Nutshell:
It’s hard to overstate just how much the DC area was buzzing – not just after a huge Game 2 victory, but since the Caps won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. This was the championship run this area had been waiting on for decades, the last of the big four teams to even get this close being the Capitals, circa 1998. And that team didn’t have a single Stanley Cup Final victory under its belt.
The 2018 team returned to the District with their series tied, the heroics of everyone from Brooks Orpik to Braden Holtby helping carry them to a huge Game 2 win and instantly marking this the most successful postseason run in franchise history.
Despite that, one win was no longer enough to satisfy anyone. This Caps team, and all of the fans following along and filling Capital One Arena with red, was hungry for more.
But first, they had to get to Capital One Arena. Because it is (allegedly) convenient and (supposedly) easy, a lot of fans opt to arrive via the lovely Washington DC Metro system…and, turns out, so do a couple of Caps. With street closures around the arena due to some of the pregame festivities, Matt Niskanen and T.J. Oshie decided to just take the metro downtown:
Truth.
Thankfully they did arrive on time, and not on fire, and were dressed and ready to go with the rest of their teammates.
On to the indoor pregame activities, which were clearly going to be more understated than Vegas (as if it would be hard) – but they could keep their Medieval Times reenactments and showgirls and oddly mesmerizing drummers. Because the Caps had DC sports royalty on hand to kick things off:
Who’s fired up? I’m fired up. You’re fired up. And judging by the Caps’ top line’s first shift, they were fired up, too…unfortunately, so was Marc-Andre Fleury, who made a couple of decent saves in the game’s first two minutes on that big trio:
A few minutes later, it appeared as if the Caps had taken a 1-0 lead courtesy of Chandler Stephenson, but the goal was called back and the Caps assessed a minor penalty instead after Devante Smith-Pelly’s booty knocked into Marc-Andre Fleury.
‘Twas the correct call, of course, but a bummer nonetheless. (…get it?)
Not a ton of shots combined for the two teams through 20, just 12 total – five for the Knights, seven for the Caps, plus eight shot attempts for the Caps’ captain – but the goalies turned aside every one of them, and we were scoreless after one.
That would not be the case for much longer, and the stalemate would be broken by the absolute perfect person to score the first Stanley Cup Final goal in DC in 20 years: Alex Ovechkin. That it happened after one of the crazier scrambles you’ll ever see, and that he scored it while falling? Perfection. Take a look:
Chaotic and glorious, much like the man himself.
That would be Ovechkin’s team-leading 14th goal of the postseason. Later in the period, the man right behind him in goals would pick up his 12th (and let an eagle soar in our nation’s capital).
A blocked shot in the defensive zone by T.J. Oshie would kick off a three-on-one rush with Oshie, Jay Beagle, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. And no disrespect to Beagle, but I think we’re all thankful that the right man decided to just take the damn shot:
Let’s see what the captain thought of that goal:
Hmm. Seems pleased.
On to the third period, with the Caps holding a 2-0 lead in front of a raucous downtown crowd and things were going great. Until, uh…
Okay, hang on. Pause. Let’s preface this next moment by saying Braden Holtby was an incredibly important part of this Cup run. His return to form at exactly the right time was one of the catalysts for the Caps to rebound from an abysmal start back in the opening round, and it carried them all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. In fact, just a couple of nights earlier, he made one of the greatest saves we’d ever seen. It was, indeed, the spring of #Brademption.
Anyway. Here’s what happened next.
Um. Oops.
Honestly, looking back, it’s a pretty hilarious play that almost felt like it happened in slow motion while watching it live. Just an absolute brain fart by Braden, with the extra insult to injury of both Tomas Nosek and Nicklas Backstrom falling on top of Holtby afterward making it really special.
And there wasn’t a person in that arena (we hope) who thought that would cost the Caps in the end, because this team wasn’t about to let that man down in his one rare moment of extreme weakness.
Onward!
Yes, Holtby’s little slip-up made it a one-goal game – but his team was playing great in front of him, and locked things down while continuing to put everything on Holtby’s Vegas counterpart, our good pal Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury was The Reason why this game was close at all, coming up with some huge saves early on and particularly in the second period, when he turned aside 12 of the 14 shots faced.
He was doing great. But he didn’t account for the power of Devante Smith-Pelly, who was having himself a PLAYOFFS. Now on this particular evening, DSP was having a rough go of things, his butt negating a goal for his team early on (and costing him a minor penalty) and then adding another trip to the penalty box in the second period.
In the third? #Peldemption. (That’s not a thing, but just go with it.)
Jay Beagle. To Devante Smith-Pelly. And he scores. Just an absolute legendary sequence, and a perfect representation of the magic that was happening on this team. DSP, who had scored all of seven goals in the entire 2017-18 season, now had five in the Stanley Cup Playoffs…all in the final two rounds (and he wasn’t done yet). Unreal.
Shall we check in on the stoic boys of the bench?
Same, fellas. Same.
After that goal, all that remained was to ride out the clock. Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d type: As we counted down the seconds to the end of regulation…we were all Wonder Woman:
The Knights pulled Fleury in the final minutes, looking for the two goals to tie this thing up, but they never came. The Caps held on to win this one in front of an absolutely rabid hometown crowd: the first-ever Stanley Cup Final win in Washington.
Y’all did Mama Holtby proud, boys.
Condensed Game:
Defining Moment:
They Said It:
“It’s nuts right now, and it’s great to see. [The fans] deserve us to get there, and we’ve got a long ways to go, but you always have to take it in and have fun with it.” – John Carlson
“I’ve never seen the fans like this. They’re always good, but I’ve never seen them like this.” – T.J. Oshie
I think our top guys are leading the way, but at key moments this spring, we’ve got a big goal or a big [penalty] kill — different things like that from guys on the fourth line, third line. That’s what you need. It’s all about everybody contributing within their role. That’s what good teams do.” – Matt Niskanen
“Just get ready for the next one. That’s all you can do. They were the better team. They deserved to win. I thought we played better than we did in Game 2. But in the first period, they set the tone real good.” – Gerard Gallant
“I feel like Ovi always has about 10 shots on goal halfway through the game, or he has the attempts at least. He was pumped up. Everybody was pumped up today.” – Lars Eller
“It’s only two [wins]. Move forward and don’t think about it too much.” – Alex Ovechkin
Additional Reading:
- #CapsKnights Postgame Notebook: Bring It On Home [Caps]
- Alex Ovechkin starts it, DSP ends it and the Capitals seize 2-1 Stanley Cup finals lead [WaPo]
- Capitals lead Stanley Cup Final after Game 3 win against Golden Knights [NHL]
- Alex Ovechkin is playing the most complete hockey of his career [WaPo]
- Ovechkin ‘on another level’ for Capitals in Game 3 win vs. Golden Knights [NHL]
- Ovechkin, Kuznetsov among top Capitals performers in Game 3 of Cup Final [NHL]
- Kuznetsov boosts Capitals against Golden Knights in Game 3 of Final [NHL]
- The Capitals picked them up for cheap. Now they’re valuable pieces of a Stanley Cup run. [WaPo]
- Fleury gives Golden Knights a chance in Game 3 loss to Capitals [NHL]
- Brooks Orpik returns after brutal hit, prompting scrutiny of NHL concussion protocol [WaPo]
- Brooks Orpik: ‘Just got the wind knocked out of me’ on hit by James Neal [USA Today]
- The Caps won, and look at the madness outside Capital One Arena [WaPo]
- Go ahead, Caps fans, get all-the-way excited. This team really is different. [WaPo]
- For Washington Capitals fans, the moment they have all been waiting for [WaPo]
- Capitals fans flock to block party before Game 3 against Golden Knights [NHL]
- T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen took the Metro to Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals [WaPo]
- Oshie, Niskanen ride Metro with Capitals fans to Game 3 of Cup Final [NHL]
- Who threw a crab? This Capitals fan required two pairs of underwear to pull it off. [WaPo]
I was there for Game 3. (And Game 4, too). I posted on FB that I was checking off one of the things on my bucket list. One of my FB friends, who’s a Canes fans, had said the atmosphere would be amazing, etc., obviously, knowing exactly what I had in mind as I believe she was at a Canes’ SC final years ago. Another friend (from HS) asked what’s going on and I gave the explanation.
When people ask me what my favorite Ovi goal was, I always say “Game 3, the Clusterfuck goal.”
We have an 8X10 of that moment on our Capitals wall.
What a game that was. I truly don’t think Cap One was ever that loud before and i don’t think it’s been that loud ever since 2018
Watched the game with some friends, and all we could think of was how the Capitals just physically dominated the Golden Knights. The Caps weren’t chasing down pucks; they were shadowing Knights chasing down the puck and plastering them.
‘Twas a glorious sight.
It was absolute bedlam when Ovi scored the game-opening goal. I’ve never heard an arena (anywhere) get that loud for the goal and the five ensuing seconds.
It’s the only playoff game I have been to where I felt this way. But after the Holtby issue, I wasn’t worried. Normally I would have been waiting for the other shoe to fall. But I just thought, “OK. Happens. They got this.”
I remember when he turned over the puck all I was mad about was that he blew the shutout. I wasn’t worried about winning (I think).
I eerily remember thinking the same exact thing, an abnormal – and borderline paranormal – behavior for Caps fans.