Capitals: 5 Under-Appreciated Goals in the Ovechkin Era

Jakub Vrana’s Go-Ahead Goal in Game 5

We here at Stars and Sticks know how important this goal is.

This goal does not get talked about nearly as much as I think it should. Maybe it’s because this was a series full of big goals, including the aforementioned Kuzy goal, but also the Ovechkin game-winner in game 3. That Ovechkin goal almost made this list, however I believe it has received a lot of praise for being a huge goal for the Caps.

This goal, on the other hand, has rarely been talked about since it was scored. This was the game-winner in game 5 of the second round against the Penguins in 2018. Just to give a little context as to why it was important, the Penguins had won the previous game to make it a 2-2 series. In addition to that, the Penguins had come back from a 2-1 deficit in the second period of this game to have a 3-2 lead in the third period.

Up to this point, the Capitals have had a bit of a reputation for coughing up leads to the Penguins. It happened in game 1 of the series when the Penguins won 3-2 after scoring two quick ones on the Capitals to take the first lead of the series. Tack on the fact that Tom Wilson had been suspended in Game 3, and it seemed like this was the beginning of another heartbreak for the Capitals and their fans.

This third period showed that this was a different Capitals team. After allowing Pittsburgh to come back, the Capitals would go on to score four unanswered in the third period to win 6-3 and take a 3-2 series lead. Kuznetsov started things off with a sweet goal earlier in the period to tie things up, which Vrana assisted. Then Vrana scored this game-winning tally next. This goal was so big because the Capitals hadn’t only tied the game, but they had now stormed back with two goals of their own to match the Penguins’ two unanswered goals from the second period.

Jakub Vrana was a rookie at the time who had just been moved up to Kuznetsov and Ovechkin’s line in the third period to try and shake things up, and did it ever work. It showed the Capitals were not the same team as before and that they would not allow themselves to be intimidated by the Penguins. They were going to be confident and resilient, and this goal helped to showcase that. It also helped showcase that getting support from depth players and rookies would be the difference between the Caps losing to Pittsburgh in the second round and hoisting the Cup above their heads in June.

Also, it was just an unreal play all around. Starting with Braden Holtby’s clutch save, then Ovi charging to the net and slickly feeding it out front and Vrana cutting in to bury it. Plus, there is an awesome overhead photo of after he scored the goal