The Washington Capitals hosted the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, the first Stanley Cup Final game in Washington in two decades. It was time to have some fun. Here’s Saturday night’s Plus/Minus: Plus: Washington’s biggest stars came to play, and the Capitals are two wins away from a Stanley Cup. Minus: Braden Holtby made a little oopsie early in the third period. Fortunately, it did not sink the Caps’ schooner. And now, this... OVI ROARRRRRRR pic.twitter.com/e8Tiq0ymeN — NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) June 3, 2018 Ten more notes on the game: 1. After winning Game 2 by a score of 3-2 in Las Vegas, and the series evened up and effectively split, could the Capitals come back out in Game 3 in Washington and take a series lead in front of the hometown crowd at Capital One Arena? 2. The big question on everyone’s red-rocking lips was two little Russian words: Evgeny Kuznetsov? After appearing to hurt his wrist or forearm early in Game 2, would the Capitals have their leading playoff point producer back in the lineup? Spoiler Alert: YES! Kuzy was announced as in, and the Washington faithful breathed a muted hallelujah across the metropolitan area. 3. The first real action came just six minutes into the first period. After exchanging several salivating shots back and forth, WASHINGTON STRUCK FIRST! Chandler Stephenson ripped a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury and-........nope, it was waved off for goaltender interference. Devante Smith-Pelly’s formidable derriere collided with Fleury’s noggin so hard it almost knocked the goaltender into la semaine prochaine, and this one remained scoreless. The Capitals killed the ensuing minor penalty, and a whole city held its breath. It remained 0-0 until the first buzzer. 4. And Washington didn’t take long to strike in the second stanza. Just sixty-one seconds into the frame, Marc-Andre Fleury found himself tossed asunder in the violent Red wash. Flower eventually made his way back to the crease in time to deny a John Carlson whack, but the acrobatic netminder didn’t account for O Captain My Captain, Alex Ovechkin. Falling over, the Great Eight chopped an all-heart desperation backhand high over Fleury’s pad and into the back of the net, staking the Caps to a 1-0 lead. The building erupted. 5. Later in the second period, Washington got a little more Russian intervention. After T.J. Oshie made a gorgeous high-effort defensive play in his own zone to turn the puck over and breakout the Capitals, Evgeny Kuznetsov collected it and led Washington on a 3-on-1 the other way. The Boy Who Scored called his own number, and ripping a wicked snipe under Fleury’s armpit, Kuzy’s doozy put the Caps up by twozy. 6. The score would hold until the final intermission, and the Washington Capitals headed into the final twenty minutes holders of The Most Dangerous Lead In Hockey. 7. And it looked like the old adage was going to hold true early on. Just four minutes into the third period, Braden Holtby did his very best Fleury impression at the very worst time, misplaying a puck behind his own net and accidentally sliding a lay-up to Vegas’ Tomas Nosek. Nosek stuffed it in, and brought the Golden Knights back within one with a whooooooole lot of hockey left to be played. Fighting our way back into it 2-1 pic.twitter.com/vC70fTVoLd — Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 3, 2018 8. But with single digit minutes showing on the ol’ clock, Washington’s fourth line grabbed their hard hats and went to work. Jay Beagle turned over Vegas’ Shea Theodore on the forecheck, and fed Devante Smith-Pelly. DSP, he of 7 goals all regular season, decided it was juuuust about time to ring up his 5th of these playoffs, and big number 25 went full Devante Snipe-Celly, beating Fleury to lift the Caps to a 3-1 lead. Shea Theodore turnover leads to Jay Beagle setting up DSP pic.twitter.com/Y1VEuWxrzO — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) June 3, 2018 9. The score would hold despite Vegas pulling their goalie, and this one went into the record books as a 3-1 Capitals win. It is the first home Stanley Cup Final victory in Capitals franchise history! Fight for Old DC, boys! 10. Except for his one extremely sizeable and significant gaffe, Holtby was otherwise strong again tonight. He saved 21-of-22 shots for a .955 SV%, and continues to be a calming force for this helter-skelter Caps squad. The Washington Capitals are now two (2) wins away from a Stanley Cup. You read that right. Game 4 is Monday at Capital One Arena.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — Here came the chants, booming and shrill and singsong: “Fleu-ry! Fleu-ry!” They reverberated through the partisan crowd at Capital One Arena after the Washington Capitals’ first goal Saturday night, then after their second and third. How cathartic that must have felt. The first Stanley Cup finals game contested in the District in two decades was a continuation of what has been a springlong purge of cumulative angst and despair for the local hockey team and its fans. A symbol of those failures just happens to be tending goal this series for the Vegas Golden Knights, and if not for some resplendent stops by that man, Marc-Andre Fleury, the Capitals’ margin of victory on Saturday would have been greater than merely 3-1. But Fleury did cede those three, and with Game 4 scheduled for Monday night here, Washington is now two victories from a championship. Let that marinate for a second. Such an achievement would have seemed unfathomable last year, when Fleury, then with Pittsburgh, shut out the Capitals in a Game 7 here. Or in the 2009 playoffs, when he also denied them in a Game 7. Always Pittsburgh, usually Fleury.<doc-sep>Neither does James Paterson, who is driving 14 hours to Washington with his wife, two daughters and the son of his kids’ school principal. He has been a Capitals fan for more than 30 years and promised his wife they would be there for this, even if each passing spring made it feel as if this may never come. Paterson watched from Canada as Pittsburgh Penguins fans celebrated on the Portrait Gallery steps after beating the Capitals last year. He then smiled into his iPhone Wednesday night at a video of Capitals fans chanting “I believe that we will win!” in the exact same place, bathing in the first Stanley Cup finals win in franchise history.<doc-sep>The Red Wings have octopuses. The Predators have catfish. Now, apparently, the Capitals have crabs. During Game 3, while the Capitals were celebrating taking a 2-1 series lead towards the end of the game, a fan at Capital One Arena sneaked down to the lower bowl and threw a crab over the glass and onto the ice. While not much notice was taken of the crustacean as it happened, the Capitals' social media team noted it the next day. Per The Washington Post, the plan was crafted and executed by 15-year-old Jack Merritt of Bethesda, Maryland. "I was thinking seafood, because in Detroit and Nashville they throw the octopi and catfish," Merritt said, per The Post. "I thought a crab was perfect to represent our area." Last year, of course, we got the bizarre masterminded plans of Jake Waddell, who managed to get a fully grown catfish onto the ice at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Merritt's plan had fewer steps, but it was just as effective. "It was in the front of my pants," he said. "It wasn't that uncomfortable, honestly. It wasn't like pinching me or anything. I was pretty nervous going through security, but once I got through, I went to the bathroom and took it out and put it in my bag." Now, "Caps Crab" has its own Twitter account. The Capitals are now just two games away from winning their first Stanley Cup Final. Now, with Puck Girl and Caps Crab behind them, they'll try to take a 3-1 lead in Washington after Monday's Game 4.<doc-sep>
WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin seems to be celebrating every Capitals goal as if it is the most important tally in franchise history. Maybe at this point, each Washington goal is that momentous. Ovechkin scored his 14th goal of the playoffs and linemate Evgeny Kuznetsov registered a goal and an assist to spark the Capitals to a 3-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night. “(Ovechkin) is on another level (but) he’s always been a brash celebrator,” Washington defenseman John Carlson said. “He’s engaged as anyone can ever be. It shows in his game and the effect that it has on the rest of us.” On this night, Ovechkin had 10 shots at the net, five shots on goal, two hits and two blocked shots. “I think in the last couple of games he set the tone,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. Everyone in the greater Washington area had an understanding of how important this game was in determining how this series will play out, but Ovechkin’s understanding was deeper than anyone’s. He’s been with the Capitals since 2005 and he’s never before been beyond the second round until this season. This is the first time the Capitals have ever won a Stanley Cup Final game at home, and Ovechkin’s enthusiasm is apparent. You wonder if he's hurting the teammates he bear hugs. Trotz noted that Ovechkin is playing with intensity, physicality, skill and purpose, and when he’s playing like that “the whole team is going to follow him.” With an electric atmosphere coursing through Capital One Arena, Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 1:10 into the second period with a remarkable backhander as he was falling to ice. “It kind of looked like his 600th goal – it reminded me a lot of that one,” Carlson said. But this goal is far more important because it is moving the Capitals closer to a Stanley Cup. Everyone is talking about the Vegas passion, but the D.C. area is also burning with Stanley Cup fever. Streets were packed outside the arena with fans as the game was going on. “There’s a lot of pride in the D.C. area,” Trotz said. Ovechkin’s sidekick on his superhero night was Kuznetsov, whose appearance in Game 3 was a game-time decision. He missed most of Game 2 after being pulverized by a heavy hit by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb. He didn’t show any discomfort as he ripped a shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the second period to give Washington a 2-0 lead. More:Golden Knights' magical run faces adversity in Stanley Cup Final More:Capitals' Brooks Orpik stunned after huge hit, somehow still stays in Stanley Cup Final Game 3 “(Kuznetsov) has been great the past couple of seasons,” Carlson said. “He’s one of the most dynamic players, and he can take over the league if he wants to. He’s that talented and sees the game better than everyone else.” Kuznetsov leads all playoff scorers with 27 points. But the Capitals are counting wins, not goals and points. Anyone who is watching the Capitals can see how driven Ovechkin is to make this championship happen. He knows he has to show teammates what must be done to win it all. After 13 years, he seems to have figured out the Capitals’ path to success. That’s why he is celebrating each goal with gusto. He can see his team inching closer to an objective that has always been out of reach. He’s reacting with honest emotion, a release earned by too many years of frustrating results. “It’s just automatic,” he said.