Capitals: Remembering Game 4 domination against Vegas
The Washington Capitals not only won, they flat out dominated in Game 4.
The Washington Capitals rode the wave of home ice advantage all the way to a thrilling and dominating 6-2 win in Game 4 over the Vegas Golden Knights. It put them on the cusp of history and made an entire city believe the Stanley Cup was within reach.
The Caps got a power play chance when Colin Miller was called for tripping at 9:22. 32 seconds later Nicklas Backstrom found Evgeny Kuznetsov who whiffed in a shot that went off Marc-Andre Fleury’s pads to the skates of T.J. Oshie.
Oshie quickly got the puck to his stick and fired it in. It was Oshie’s eighth goal of the playoffs.
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At 16:26 the Caps doubled their lead with Kuznetsov firing a pass from behind the goal to Tom Wilson who ripped the shot right in for his fifth goal of the spring.
With 21 seconds left the Caps weren’t done. Alex Ovechkin passed the puck to Matt Niskanen, who found a charging Devante Smith-Pelly down low right next to the goal. DSP put it in for his sixth of the playoffs.
In the second period after James Neal was called for slashing at 14:45, putting the Caps on the power play. On the attack a one-timer from John Carlson on the left face-off circle made it 4-0 for his fifth goal of the postseason. Kuznetsov and Oshie had the assists.
Neal got the Golden Knights on the board at 5:43 and Riley Smith cut the deficit in half at 12:26. At 13:39 the Caps answered with Oshie passing the puck backwards to Backstrom. Backstrom found Michal Kempny with a cross-ice pass and he banged in a one-timer from the right face-off circle to make it 5-2. It was Kempny’s second goal of the playoffs.
Finally, the onslaught was completed with the Caps finishing a 5-on-3 with a goal from Brett Connolly for his sixth goal of the spring. Backstrom and Kuznetsov had the helpers.
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As the game reached the end there were chants of “We want the Cup”. The Caps were just one more win away from lifting it over their heads on this magical night two years ago.