Washington Capitals Win Game 7 – Advance to Stanley Cup Final

Alex Ovechkin is one step closer to his dream of winning the Stanley Cup before retiring. Only four wins separate him from the win of a lifetime.

Ovechkin joined the Capitals on Wednesday night in a team photo after a 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was the first time the Washington Capitals have won the Eastern Conference final in 20 years to earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

There was little question the Capitals, especially Ovechkin wanted to win last night, and it seemed like they were on a mission said Barry Trotz, Washington’s coach, adding that there was no question hey wanted this game.

Alex Ovechkin, who has played in the NHL for 13 years scored just after the 1-minute mark of the first period after a blistering slap shot from the right side of the goal that Andrei Vasilevskiy could do little to stop.

The remainder of the first period went without either team scoring, but with half the second period eaten up, Andre Burakovsky took control of the puck from a confused Daniel Girardi in front of Tampa’s net and made it 2-0 for the Capitals. Burakovsky was not done, scoring his second goal of the night with 3:30 remaining in the second period after going in alone on a breakaway beating Vasilevskiy.

The Capitals Braden Holtby had 29 saves for the night and earned back-to-back shutouts. The Lightning, who were first in scoring during the regular season failed to score any goals in almost 160 minutes of the series had a dismal performance last night.

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Ovechkin’s, who has never seen playoff action past the second round, said in pre-game interviews that Game 7 was going to be the biggest game of his life. His first period goal seemed to electrify the Washington Capitals, and for Ovechkin, he knew the first goal was important. Commenting after the win, he stated,

“The first goal was very important. After that you could see we have all the momentum on our side. Holts was unstoppable today. He was special. Everybody was all in. Everybody was sacrificing their bodies. I think we all deserve the win.”

The Washington Capitals will now head to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Vegas Golden Knights. For the Capitals, it is the first time for the team in 20 years, for the Golden Knights, the achievement is unheard of for an expansion team to go to the Finals in their first season.

Andre Burakovsky became the 17th to score for the Capitals in the post-season. Burakovsky was on the injured list for ten games with an injury to his upper-body, and after not being played in Game 5 even though healthy, he made his presence known in Game 7.

As the clock ran down in the third period, Vasilevskiy was pulled from the net allowing Nicklas Backstrom to score an empty-netter to make it 4-0.

BELIEVE IT! THE WASHINGTON CAPITALS ARE GOING TO THE 2018 #STANLEYCUP FINAL! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/mQxQuXxeYn

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 24, 2018

Commenting on the series and game, T.J. Oshie said.

“What a game. What an experience. We had a lot of guys pitching in. The biggest guy of all had to be Holts. He played fantastic, back to back shutouts.”

After losing the first two games in the series, Tampa Bay came back to win the next three to tie take the lead in the series only to see the Washington win game 6 to force game 7. Tampa had many chances to score last night but was unable to get the job done against the physically aggressive Capitals.

The difference was clear from the minute the puck hit the ice after the face-off with Washington playing with an urgency, one that didn’t let up for a second.

In post-game interviews, Braden Holtby said,

“We’re here to win as team, no matter who gets the credit.”

For Tampa Bay coach, Jon Cooper, he felt they could have won every game in the series but faced a tough team.

“We ran into a tough Washington team that was probably feeling the same thing, and once you get this far you’ve probably done some magical things on the way.”

Last night’s game was the 33rd time that a finalist for the Stanley Cup was determined by a 7th game. Tampa Bay became the 13th team in NHL history not to win a home game under those circumstances. For Steve Stamkos, the loss will take some time to digest. After the defeat, he stated,

“It’s tough to sit here right now and think of positive things and how it was a pretty great season. It doesn’t seem that way when you have this group — and we’ve been to this position before — and you can’t find a way to give yourself a chance a win. We thought we had that group. It’s just an empty feeling right now.”

The Stanley Cup Finals will get underway on Monday at 8 pm at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as will Game 2 before heading to Washington for Games 3 and 4. Sports betting sites taking bets on the Stanley Cup final are favouring the Vegas Golden Knights at 1-135. However, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are from out of the hunt to hoist Sir Stanley’s Cup.