On this night three years ago the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup. It ended 44 years of frustration and heartbreak whether it was in the regular season when the Caps were an expansion franchise that couldn’t reach double digits in wins or playoff heartbreak after playoff heartbreak for fans young and old.
The Game
The first period was scoreless but the action really picked up in the second period. Jakub Vrana scored on a breakaway to give the Caps an early 1-0 lead. Nate Schmidt would tie it less than three minutes later.
The Caps would take the lead on the power play with Nicklas Backstrom feeding a cross ice pass to Alex Ovechkin for the go ahead goal. It sent the Caps fans at T-Mobile Arena and back in the DMV into a frenzy.
The Vegas Golden Knights would snatch moment right back with a goal from David Perron and Riley Smith on the power play to go up 3-2 heading into the second intermission. The Caps weren’t phased.
In the third period Devante Smith-Pelly rebounded in a Brooks Orpik shot. A few minutes later Lars Eller buried in a shot from Brett Connolly for what would turn out to be the game winning goal.