Washington Capitals: One Year Later, Still Timeless
On June 7, 2018 the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup.
Crazy to believe that it’s been one year but these posts have brought back nostalgic memories and of course today is no different. NBC Sports Washington is re-airing the game and Washington Capitals fans everywhere are no doubt going to want to watch this again and relive the glory.
The day began with a bit of a different feeling than a previous gameday where the Capitals held a 3-1 series lead. Knowing tonight could be the night, many Caps fans flocked to downtown DC.
The watch party inside Capital One Arena was packed to capacity. It was of high interest and demand the Capitals decided to a ticket system. Of course, fans crashed the servers and many were shutout from getting one of the free tickets to get inside.
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There was a solution though. Some big screens were outside the arena and if Games 3 and 4 were any indication, that is an experience of it’s own. The scene outside the arena rivaled something you’d see across Times Square on New Years Eve.
The Capitals could very well be back in this scenario one year from now, two years from now or longer. No matter when they win a Stanley Cup again, while it won’t quite have the same flavor as winning the first time, anybody would sign up for that experience again.
The first period was scoreless but the fireworks really got going in the second. Jakub Vrana opened the scoring and his journey from being in and out of the lineup throughout the season to scoring the first goal in the Cup clincher is a story in itself.
Vrana’s goal came on the breakaway with blazing speed at 6:24. Vrana finished top-right corner on Marc-Andre Fleury‘s glove side.
Just over three minutes later, Vegas evened the score. Nobody said winning the Stanley Cup on this night would be easy. Making things a little uneasier was this goal came from former Capital Nate Schmidt.
Schmidt was a favorite among fans, teammates and media during his time in D.C. for his humor and bright personality. The vibe looked like he never had a bad day but it probably wasn’t the best day when he found out he was one of the Capitals players exposed the previous summer during the Golden Knights’ expansion draft.
Former Capitals manager George McPhee was in the press box earlier that spring during a few Capitals playoff games and there was word that he had interest in selecting Nate Schmidt. It was likely a weird transition at first but there Schmidt was making a new home in Sin City and trying to beat his former team in the Finals.
Schmidt’s goal was the start of a combined three goals in the span of 3:16. After Brayden McNabb was called for tripping, Alex Ovechkin struck on the power play from the front outer edge of the office.
Reilly Smith gave the Golden Knights the lead with 29 seconds left and this wild second period ended with the Capitals staring at a 3-2 deficit. Strange.
Usually when one is in this scenario and you’re one win away nerves will set in. If there was any sign of nerves it came from the Capitals fans who made the trip to T-Mobile Arena or weere watching inside or outside Capital One Arena.
But the nerves weren’t quite negative but mostly stemming from anticipation of what was sure to be an epic final 20 minutes of hockey.
With just over 10 minutes to go the Capitals tied it. Brooks Orpik kept the puck in the zone, found Devante Smith-Pelly wide open in front of the net. In a split second, Smith-Pelly dove to his right to set up an iconic picture-esque goal.
Then just minutes later at 12:23 Michal Kempny got rid of the puck along the boards behind the net. It went to Andre Burakovsky and he immediately found Brett Connolly for the one timer.
Fleury thought he stopped Connolly completely. Even though he did he didn’t cover the most important thing, the puck. The puck was just sitting behind Fleury and Lars Eller was there to poke it in.
Sometimes when a team that hasn’t won a championship in so long and they’re about to, strange things happen. In the case of the MLB’s Chicago Cubs, they waited 108 years to win the World Series and as their clinching game was tied at six entering the 10th inning, rain came down hard. Despite the downpour and the rain delay, it only lasted for 17 minutes. Imagine what those Chicago fans were feeling.
You don’t really have to worry about rain in hockey unless you’re playing in one of those outdoor games but the Capitals “rain delay” moment came in the closing minutes after the Eller goal.
The clock on the TV disappeared and the broadcast noted there was an issue with the game clock inside the arena. Come on man, it’s stressful enough clinging to a one goal lead in the closing minutes being on the cusp of glory.
Once the clock was fixed an entire region was staring and waiting for that game clock to hit 0.00. Eller cleared the puck from one final Golden Knights push and with 0.6 seconds, there was just one more face-off.
Eller came in for the draw, the puck was dropped and Braden Holtby made one more stop and then the gloves flew off. The Capitals had done it. Finally. The 44-year drought was over.
Hockey is a weird sport. In the summer prior to the season many believed the Capitals missed the mark on a championship. They had built a solid team to last for two seasons that helped them win the Presidents’ Trophy but the ending was still familiar.
Schmidt wasn’t the only player the Capitals lost and the inexperience on the replacements looked like 2018-19 they would step back a little bit.
If there’s anything we’ve learned from watching the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s that the best teams aren’t the ones constructed with talent from top to bottom. The team that wins the Stanley Cup is the one who rises to the challenges a spring run presents whether it’s injuries, player suspensions, or series deficits.
Sometimes it’s the team with the most puck luck, and you need quite a bit of it on your quest. Other times, you just know it was meant to be. As the playoffs progressed in 2018 you could tell that last year belonged to the Capitals.
As the Capitals enter the final weekend and the final days as current Stanley Cup champions, use that time to reflect how far that team has come. As early as Sunday the Stanley Cup could be calling St. Louis their home unless the Bruins have other ideas and force a Game 7.
A look back at Game 4. dark. Next
No matter who wins the Stanley Cup, 2018 still happened and it’ll never be taken away. Until then, enjoy the final days as champs and happy one year anniversary Caps fans!
