Washington Capitals Tie Stanley Cup Final 1-1

Braden Holtby had the save of the lifetime that kept Washington Capitals in the lead and tied the Stanley Cup finals 1-1 after beating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on the Knights home turf.

Holby was on top of his game last night in what saw an intense final two minutes of play as the third period wound down. Holtby managed to make 37 saves last night, one of which is being called the save a lifetime and instrumental in the Capitals holding on to the lead and defeating the Golden Knights last night.

Washington lost 6-4 in the opening game of the finals and Holtby commented that a few bounced did not go their way in the first game saying,

“We knew if we just stuck with it, did the right things, something would go our way.”

And go their way it did. Brooks Orpik earned his first goal since February, and it what a goal it was as it proved to be the winning goal for the Washington Capitals. Holtby stopped a stop from Alex Tuch with his stick after the puck bounced off the glass and nearly deflected into the net.

Sportsnet

Jay Beagle, a forward with the Capitals, said it was without a doubt, the save of the year, if not a lifetime. Barry Trotz, the head coach for Washington added,

“To me, it was the Hockey Gods.”

Lars Eller scored for one of Washington’s three goals last night and earned two assists to earn three points for the night. Also scoring was Alexander Ovechkin and earning assists was Andre Burakovsky, Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Orpik. James Neal was first to score for The Golden Knights after picking up a bouncing puck in the Capitals zone and sending a wrist shot past the pads of Brayden Holtby at 8:00 of the first period. The Capitals Lars Eller with 2:34 left in the first period to tie the game 1-1.

Washington went on a power play six minutes into the second period. It took the Capitals on 24 seconds to capitalise on the one-man advantage when Alexander Ovechkin scored his 13 post-season goal to give Washington a 2-1 lead. Mid-way through the second, the Capitals scored again to make it 3-1 after Lars Eller took a shot that bounced off the post and past Fleury.

Speaking in post-game interviews, Barry Trotz said,

“We did a good job all around on a lot of areas. We cleaned a few things. There’s some areas that we’ve still go to adjust, but it was a step forward.”

Speaking on the night’s success and seeing teammate Brroks Orchin score, Lars Eller said,

“Brooksy doesn’t score a lot of goals, but that was a huge one. To have success in the playoffs you need every single guy chipping in.”

The Knights, after a blistering attack late in the third, managed to make it 3-1 but it was too little, too late as the Capitals held off the Knights to take the win. Heading to home ice advantage, the hard-driving Capitals will be pushing hard, and for the Knights, they will need to push harder if they wish to regain the lead in the series.