In an unimaginable 2017-18 NHL season, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals have won their first ever Stanley Cup.
For the first time, all season the Vegas Golden Knights lost four games in a row. For the first time since 2008 a team other than the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings or Pittsburgh Penguins has won the Stanley Cup. For the first time ever, a Russian captain hoisted the Stanley Cup.
For the first time in franchise history, the Washington Capitals have won the Stanley Cup.
It seemed that since captain Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals first appeared in the Stanley Cup Playoffs back in 2007-08 the team was cursed. The 2018 Conn Smythe winner in Ovechkin and company has officially shaken the monkey off of their backs and will skate into the Vegas sunset with Lord Stanley.
The Capitals defeated Vegas by a final score of 4-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, and in dramatic fashion on the road. Washington trailed by a score of 3-2 entering the third period of the contest, but the Caps were more than familiar with playing and coming back from behind all playoff season long.
At some point during this year’s playoffs, the Capitals had trailed in every series leading up to the most unpredictable Cup Final, ever.
In a game that began with Ovechkin and Vegas Golden Knights masked man, Marc-Andre Fleury, going at it during the pregame skate — ended with the Caps’ getting the better of netminder who was the potential Conn Smythe Trophy favorite.
Marc-Andre Fleury and Alex Ovechkin battling it out pre-game pic.twitter.com/KtWjGWS6EV
— Bar South N Celly™ (@BarSouthNCelly) June 8, 2018
It was the Caps’ x-factor in Devante Smith-Pelly that scored off of rebound to tie the game at 3-3, 9:52 into the third period, which took the life out of T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. Smith-Pelly’s goal was followed up with the game-winning goal by Lars Eller 13:52 into the game’s final frame.
Smith-Pelly ties the game 3-3 #allcaps pic.twitter.com/b8mNC9KLbd
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) June 8, 2018
Eller scores to give the #allcaps a 4-3 lead, Connolly and Burakovsky assist pic.twitter.com/4QXCI0BHxY
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) June 8, 2018
From that point on, it was just a countdown for the Washington Capitals.
While the arena’s clock somehow managed to freeze, and fans were left watching with no sense of time for the last 1:30 of regulation, the time had finally arrived for the Great 8 to accept Lord Stanley from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Alex Ovechkin hoisting the Stanley Cup pic.twitter.com/0sjr8XX7Jj
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) June 8, 2018
For the first time in the history of the NHL, a Russian captain has not only won the Stanley Cup, but has won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Alex Ovechkin has silenced his critics, finally.
