The (virtual) Washington Capitals have done it in our NHL 20 simulation.
The Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years thanks to a four game sweep over the Colorado Avalanche in this year’s Stanley Cup Final. They once again clinched the Cup on the road.
There was a lot of action in the first 20 minutes. Once again the Caps found themselves in a 2-0 hole for the second game in a row. Both goals by the Avalanche were scored by the pesky Andre Burakovsky at 5:20 and 6:08, respectively.
At 8:27 Richard Panik scored his first goal of the playoffs to get the Caps on the board on a shot from up close. It was assisted by Nick Jensen and Michal Kempny.
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At 9:28 the Avs answered with a goal from Samuel Girard at 9:28. Shortly after the goal, Evgeny Kuznetsov was injured after a brutal hit by Gabriel Landeskog, taking him out of the game. Nicklas Backstrom, however, stepped up and got a goal back for the Caps on a rebound to keep the deficit by one at 18:11. It was Backstrom’s 11th goal of the spring. Jensen and Kempny once again had the helpers.
3-2 was the score after 20 with the Avs outshooting the Caps 15-8. As for the second period, the Caps added two goals to go up front.
It started with a power play opportunity when Landeskog was called for a tripping minor 27 seconds in. At 1:16, Lars Eller rebounded a shot from T.J. Oshie up front to tie the game. Jakub Vrana had the secondary assist.
At 2:39 the Caps went up front on a downtown shot by Backstrom for his second goal of the game. Vrana and Tom Wilson had the helpers and it even made Snoop Dogg go crazy in the broadcast booth when he was featured as a guest on the telecast.
The second period was so different in the shot department with the Caps having a 12-4 edge taking a 4-3 lead into the dressing room.
The Caps added two more goals for insurance. After Landeskog was called for hooking at 2:13 the Caps power play was at it again with Oshie scoring at 3:02 and Eller and Vrana coming up with the helpers.
In a solid end to the season the Caps held off the Avs offensive attack and then Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin fittingly connected for an empty net goal to seal the victory.
Now that we know the Caps can do it virtually let’s see them do this again in real life when the season comes back.