Finally, The Caps have won the Cup.
- passdaaux
- Jun 9, 2018
- 3 min read
A moment that Washington fans thought would never happen. The continued underachievement of this era, the dread of an entire fan base, washed away in five games as the Washington Capitals took home the Lord's Stanley Cup by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights, to capture their first championship in the teams since their inception in 1974.
June 7, of 2018 will be etched in the history books as The Washington Capitals have brought the city of Washington, DC their first major sports championship since The Washington Redskins won Superbowl XXVI in 1992 by defeating the Buffalo Bills.
The city that night celebrated deep into the night as thousands filled the Capital One Arena and thousands more were on the streets in Gallery Place for a watch party of epic proportions. Capital One Arena installed an extra jumbo screen for the rabid fan base to view their beloved Capitals get the proverbial "monkey off their back.”
The playoffs began with a 0-2 deficit to the Columbus Blue Jackets with blowing the lead in both games at home. The captain, Alex Ovechkin, put the team on his back and said, we will win this series and the preceded to win 4 consecutive games to close out the series 4-2.
Up next, the Pittsburgh Penguins led by the man Ovi has been compared to his whole career, Sydney Crosby. The Penguins have eliminated the Capitals from the playoffs nine of the last ten times. Splitting the first four games of the series, the Capitals closed out the series in Pittsburgh finally overcoming the team that seemed to always end the season for Washington.
The Eastern Conference Championship series came to a best of seven against the East's top seed the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Capitals dominated the opening games in Tampa, blowing out the East's best team. But a familiar scenario came up as Tampa rallied for three consecutive wins, giving Caps fans a familiar sense of deja vu.
"Here we go again," was the feeling as the Capitals headed back to Tampa for Games 5 and 6. Braden Holtby, a former Vezina Trophy winner, stood on his head, to shut out the Lightning in their house as the Capitals went on the reach there only second appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, first since 1998.
The Conn Smythe (NHL Playoff MVP) was obviously Alex Ovechkin, who scored the most goals in the 2018 Cup Playoffs. Along with Ovi, was his riding mate for all these years, Nicklas Backstrom, who has also had to hear the whispers of you can't do it.
The Capitals stars came through for them in these playoffs as they were lead in points by Evgeny Kuznetzov with thirty-two points. Five Capitals scored over twenty points during the Cup Playoffs. In net, Braden Holtby kept the opposition off the scoreboard averaging 2.16 goals allowed per game, with two shutouts.
An unlikely here arose in the Stanley Cup Finals as the Capitals were trailing 3-2 in the third period. Devonte Smith-Pelly, who had the game-winner in Game 4, scores the game-tying goal while falling with 10:08 left in the game. DSP scored only seven goals all season, tallied seven in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Brooks Orpik kept the puck in the offensive zone, which lead the amazingly athletic play by DSP shocked the Vegas crowd who believed they were heading to a Game 6. Lars Eller put the Capitals on top for good as he scored on a rebound at 7:37 remaining in the game.
The last moments of the game seem to last an eternity for Capitals fans. Washington played kill the clock until about three minutes left when The Golden Knight had to pull the goalie to get an extra offensive skater on the ice to try and increase their chances of tying the game. Once the clock hit zero, the emotion of the team, the fans, an entire city exploded. Even those that would not be considered hockey fans, could appreciate the relief they saw on the faces of the players finally holding the greatest trophy in all of sport. Partying ran throughout the night, from the players, the Washington fans in attendance, and all that watched back in The District.
The celebration continued as the Capitals landed back on Friday and appeared around town with The Cup, which had a showing at Don Tito’s in the Clarendon District of Arlington, VA. For the rest of the DMV, the Championship Parade has been scheduled for June 12, 2018, at 11 am.