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 0-0
The Setting:
May 28, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV
How We Got Here:
Game in a Nutshell:
The time had come at last. 16 teams started, two remained standing, and they were about to clash in one of the biggest underdog Finals of all time. A long-suffering team with only one previous Stanley Cup Final appearance (and zero Stanley Cup Final wins) under its belt, going up against an inaugural upstart team no one expected to see make a deep playoff run.
Feels like the makings of a chaotic series, right? Well, in Game 1…they delivered.
Before that chaos could get underway, though, the always-understated Vegas had some pregame theatrics to roll out.
What in the Medieval Times?
So…that happened. Anyway roughly eight hours later, the puck was dropped and we were ready to roll.
It was to be expected for some nerves coming into this one, but the Caps seemed a bit shakier than the Knights to open the series, giving up five shots on net before taking their own on Marc-Andre Fleury almost six minutes into the first. Both goalies held tall to start, though, keeping things even as the jitters shook themselves out.
That is, until the Caps found themselves shorthanded, Andre Burakovsky sitting for boarding former Cap Cody Eakin. About a minute into the power play, defenseman Colin Miller gathered the puck at the blue line and fired it at the net, the puck finding its way through multiple screens and past Braden Holtby for the early 1-0 lead.
Something about having their backs up against the wall seemed to work on this Caps team all postseason long, and this night was no exception. After that Vegas strike, the Caps settled down a bit – and soon after, Brett Connolly gave the Caps their first Stanley Cup Final goal in 20 years:
Somebody call a doctor, because that deflection was sick.
And because Conno brought his A-game when it came to celebrations this postseason, let’s watch his again:
So after a lackluster start, the Caps were tied. And less than a minute later, more good things happened in the form of Nicklas Backstrom, wonky hand and all, scored to give the Caps a 2-1 lead.
@CapitalOneArena #ALLCAPS #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/TyHfL0V4Wq
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 29, 2018
Good times, right? Well, the Knights are nothing if not good-time spoilers, and with about 100 seconds remaining in the first, William Karlsson grabbed a puck from off the back wall behind the net, curved it around and tucked it in the net. Tie game again, after 20.
The good-time spoilers were at it again early in the second period, when a Deryk Engelland shot on net seemed to completely flummox the Caps (honestly tough to blame them for that, to be fair), causing their coverage to fall apart and leave Reilly Smith all alone to Holtby’s right to put the Knights up by one again.
Despite the fact that the team defense was a bit of a cluster in front of him, Braden Holtby was still Braden Holtby (albeit a little less sharp than earlier in the postseason), and he made some big saves to keep it close – including this ridiculousness:
Good to be lucky, lucky to be good, etc.
That happened at one end of the rink, and a minute later, this happened at the other:
Okay, but this pass by T.J. Oshie…good gravy, Timothy Jimothy.
Tie game. Again. And we’re off to the third period. Which team was going to emerge from the final frame (or more) with the victory?
Early in the third, it seemed like maybe, perhaps, it would be the Caps, after taking the lead after a little over a minute into the period. Tom Wilson got his big body in front of the net and expertly deflected an Alex Ovechkin shot in between Fleury’s pads…and then in truly delightful fashion, Fleury went ahead and scored on himself like the chaotic good friend that he is.
Whoopsies. But hey, congrats on your first Stanley Cup Final goal, MAF!
So the Caps led 4-3…but wait, what’s that sound? Why it’s the good-time spoilers, they’re back yet again!
This time they’ve taken the form of Ryan Reaves, who scored a goal after getting away with a blatant cross-check on John Carlson in front of the net.
Because let’s be honest, the only way Ryan freaking Reaves is scoring in a Stanley Cup Final game is if he’s doing something illegal, stupid, and douchebag-y right beforehand.
Yup, this game was cray-cray.
And once again we were all tied up.
Before more goals could be scored, it was time for everyone’s favorite thing: Tom Wilson controversy. Hooray!
Not great. Shoulder to shoulder, but late and blindside…a penalty for sure. A suspension? No (and it wasn’t assessed one afterward). Because sometimes a play is just a penalty, as much as the rest of the league’s fans like to think otherwise.
So Wilson would sit for two at the same time as David Perron, who decided to do this:
That would be it for the rough stuff – now all that remained was more goals, and the first of them would come about halfway through the third period, when a Devante Smith-Pelly clearing attempt ended up being not so much a clear as a turnover. The Knights’ fourth line sent the puck back toward the net, where Tomáš Nosek was waiting – again, to Holtby’s right, no one covering him. And that was it, Knights up 5-4.
The Caps peppered Fleury with more shots, and hit the posts behind Fleury, while at the other end Holtby kept doing his level best to keep the game close yet again. Alas, the Caps were unable to muster up anything else, and Nosek would add an “insult to injury” empty-netter with just under three seconds to go to seal the deal.
The Vegas crowd celebrated the win.
…don’t worry, it would be the last time they got to do so.
But we’ll talk about that later 
Condensed Game:
Defining Moment:
They Said It:
“I think that was probably exciting for the fans, but not exactly a clean hockey game for either side.” – Braden Holtby
“No team wants to be trading chances back and forth because then it’s up in the air as to who is going to score those goals.” – Brett Connolly
“They’re a fast team, and we know that. They’re going to put some pressure on us. But overall, I thought we were a little sloppy with the puck. We didn’t make the plays that we usually do. I think we can play a little quicker, more north. That’s what we’ve got to do.” – Nicklas Backstrom
“It’s late. It’s late. It’s just Wilson doing what Wilson does.” – Ryan Reaves (lacking all self-awareness as usual)
“I think next game is going to be different, and all the nervousness, all the bad thing goes away in this game.” – Alex Ovechkin
“I’m confident we have another level. To me, that’s exciting.” – Barry Trotz
Additional Reading:
- Knights’ Depth Comes to Fore in 6-4 Game 1 Win [Caps]
- Golden Knights defeat Capitals in back-and-forth Game 1 of Cup Final [NHL]
- Golden Knights surge back against Capitals, win Stanley Cup finals Game 1, 6-4 [WaPo]
- The Capitals can’t afford to play wide-open games against Vegas [WaPo]
- Nosek, Golden Knights crowd among top performers in Game 1 of Final [NHL]
- Golden Knights get boost from fourth line in Game 1 against Capitals [NHL]
- What was that? Braden Holtby and the Capitals look unsteady in high-scoring Game 1. [WaPo]
- Holtby struggles with ‘rust’ in Capitals ‘ Game 1 loss to Golden Knights [NHL]
- Ovechkin, Capitals remain confident against Golden Knights in Cup Final [NHL]
- Capitals still adjusting to ‘pretty bad’ ice conditions in the desert [WaPo]
- Golden Knights get wild win against Capitals in Game 1 [NHL]
- Tom Wilson trucks Jonathan Marchessault, draws scrutiny in Stanley Cup finals [WaPo]
- Capitals must tighten up against Golden Knights in Game 2 of Cup Final [NHL]