Welcome to the fourth edition of NHL Life, your look at the "Show" across the pond.
He's done it, he's finally done it! After years of trying, Alexander Ovechkin has finally got what he has been craving for: that being his first Stanley Cup ring. The Washington Capitals are the winners of the 2018 Stanley Cup after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1, and ending the possibility of a fairytale story.
However, Vegas made the better of the starts in the Final series by winning a goal fest of an opener 6-4. The teams traded goals like it was the Chuckle Brothers playing hockey, before Vegas' Czech forward Tomas Nosek edged them ahead midway through the third period. Nosek then sealed the deal with an empty net strike three seconds before the final buzzer to give his side the perfect start. Was the dream still on?
A closer game happened in game two, Washington levelling the series with a 3-2 win. However, they owed a massive debt of thanks to netminder Braden Holtby who produced a stellar performance in the third period of this game. With the game delicately poised at 3-2 going into that final period, Vegas dominated that but found Holtby a brick wall as he denied every single one of the 15 shots the Golden Knights aimed at him.
As is the format of the Stanley Cup, the teams now headed up to Washington for the next two games. Game three of the series and it was a nervous opener, with the teams having only just 12 shots between them in that opening period. No surprise it ended scoreless. Yet the talismanic Ovechkin broke the tie early in the middle twenty, a lead that was then doubled midway through. Nosek's third goal in the Finals series made it a one goal game but with just over 6 minutes left in this game, a Vegas mistake was seized on and Devante Smith-Pelly scored the Caps' third and seal the game.
Game four, could the Golden Knights ride back into contention or would the Capitals push them towards elimination? It certainly looked bleak for Vegas as the Caps roared into a 4-0 lead by the end of the second period but two goals without reply had the visitors back in contention. However, the Caps found another gear to score two unanswered strikes of their own to win the game 6-2 and leave them one game away from glory.
Was game five to be the conclusion? The first period was scoreless just like game three but the deadlock was broken at 26:24 by the Capitals, yet the period ended with the Golden Knights in the ascendancy: taking a 3-2 lead with one period left to play. Two goals in two and a half minutes midway through this final period however turned the game on its head and pushed the Capitals into the lead. Try as they might the Golden Knights couldn't get back on parity and after 44 seasons of trying, the Washington Capitals crowned Stanley Cup winners for the first time.
Please like The Hockey Blog on Facebook and for Twitter users you can connect with us at:
@hockeybhoy
@hockeyblogger71
If you want to e-mail me then I can be reached at the following email address: hockeybhoy71@outlook.com
No comments:
Post a Comment