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Five Years Ago Today…Stanley Cup Final Game 2

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As unbelievable as it may seem, we are fast approaching the five-year anniversary of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup win. To celebrate, over the next two months we’re going to be taking you on a journey back in time to that magical run – reliving every game, five years to the day from when it was first played.

So strap in for the ups and downs, highs and lows, all leading up to a celebration of the greatest moment in franchise history.

Follow along with all of our “Five Years Ago Today…” recaps here.

The Series:

Stanley Cup Final – Capitals (1) vs. Golden Knights (1); Vegas leads 1-0

The Setting:

May 30, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV

Game in a Nutshell:

For the third time in four rounds, the Caps found themselves in a 0-1 series hole – so needless to say, they knew this feeling and, more importantly, knew how to respond. Whether they actually would or not remained to be seen.

After their Game 1 loss, a new hot lap participant was selected, hoping to change the team’s luck:

Huh. Interesting foreshadowing.

…but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Back to the game at hand, where there were some pregame shenanigans to get out of the way. First, Alex Ovechkin and Marc-Andre Fleury had to renew their long-running rivalry/friendship with this little exchange. Friendly? Snarky? Hard to tell, but certainly entertaining.

Next, Imagine Dragons took the ice at T-Mobile to perform a little song called “Whatever It Takes”.

You know, the song that became the hype song for the 2017-18 Washington Capitals.

(And say what you will about the band, but that song is a banger and is forever linked with this 2018 team so I will hear no criticism.)

Anyway, let’s see how that works out for them.

Pregame theatrics in the books, the Caps hit the ice looking to even things up, and the hockeying got underway. Hockeying was off to an inauspicious start, however, when about eight minutes into the first period, the Knights took a 1-0 lead. Dmitry Orlov attempted to bat a puck out of the air at the blue line, but James Neal (remember that guy?) beat him to it, knocking it down with his stick and carrying it in before firing it past Braden Holtby.

Things went from bad to worse a few minutes later, when Brayden McNabb decided to launch his shoulder and/or elbow into Evgeny Kuznetsov’s head and/or arm – no call, by the way – sending Kuznetsov to the dressing room with an upper-body injury.

Not great, Bob. Also seriously how was that not a penalty??? Whatever.

But as we’d seen time and time again on this run, when one of the team’s top centers was ailing, there was one man who we knew would step up and take over: Lars Eller.

Tonight would be no exception. Let the Tiger Show commence.

Just a few minutes after the lines were shuffled, the two teams were playing four-on-four hockey when Michal Kempny sent an incredible pass over to Lars Eller, who found himself in front of the widest-open net of wide-open nets you could ever hope to find. Being the tiger that he is, Eller fired the puck home. 1-1 game.

On to the second, where we learned that Kuznetsov would not return – so the Caps would have to play the rest of the night not just shorthanded, but without one of their best players (arguably THE best player) of this entire postseason run.

These Caps were resilient, though, so next man up and let’s go. Onward.

The theme for this second period would be penalties, with seven players heading to the penalty box in the second frame – and they started early, when Brooks Orpik sat for two minutes after an illegal check to the head of former teammate James Neal. The Caps killed off the infraction, however, and a few minutes later would be rewarded with their first power play of the night when Alex Tuch cross-checked John Carlson in front of the Caps’ net.

(Because apparently that IS a penalty, not that you’d know it from Game 1…but it’s fine. Great officiating in this one.)

It did not go well for the Vegas Golden Knights.

See, first this happened…

…then this happened.

Is that Lars Eller over there in Evgeny Kuznetsov’s usual spot on the power play, making a nice pass under the stick of Marc-Andre Fleury to Alex Ovechkin for the go-ahead goal? Sure is. And he still had more up his sleeve.

By the way, that there was Alex Ovechkin’s first Stanley Cup Final goal of his career. Welcome aboard, Ovi.

So we’ve mentioned a few times in the past how a run like this requires all hands pulling on the rope, all players chipping in – even your less offensively skilled players, the guys who don’t get a lot of pretty numbers on the scoresheet, can make a difference.

Ladies and gentlemen…Brooks Orpik – yes, Brooks ORPIK – has entered the chat.

Go ahead, Batya! Assisted by, who else? Lars Eller, his third point of the night.

The celebration, though. Orpik’s teammates are SO HAPPY. This team was real cute, y’all.

(Incidentally it’s worth noting that Orpik’s shot definitely went in off the elbow of Alex Tuch, who was, uh…not having a good night. It would get worse later on, too. But as always, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.)

Needless to say, the rest of us were in just a wee bit of shock.

At this point, up was down and left was right, because a few minutes after Brooks freaking Orpik scored a goal, Alex freaking Ovechkin did this:

Sure, why not.

Since our theme in that middle frame was penalties, let’s close out the period with another one – this time, T.J. Oshie getting the hook for a cross-check. Sorta. Miller sure did fall down easily, didn’t he? But hey, it’s been five years. Forgive and forget. Or at least forgive.

Anyway, once this happened…

…this happened.

Just like that it was 3-2. And the stage was set for a thrilling third period, indeed.

Folks…we had no idea.

The chaos started early in the final frame when, just over three minutes in, Tom Wilson took an interference penalty. And 52 seconds later, Lars Eller – the HERO of the evening to this point – would join him in the penalty box for hooking. Clinging to a one-goal lead, the Capitals now had to kill off a five-on-three disadvantage for 68 seconds.

They did. In fact, while Holtby faced nine shots over the course of the overlapping penalties, only one of those shots hit the net during the five-on-three. Shoutout to the penalty killers on that one.

After that, the Caps locked things down – and more importantly, stayed out of the box – keeping Vegas to just two shots on goal over the next 12 minutes, right up to the 18:01 mark of the third.

Why is that timestamp important?

Well, four seconds earlier, Shea Theodore dumped the puck into the Caps’ zone. A fairly standard, innocent-looking play that suddenly became anything but. The puck took a crazy carom off the end boards, bouncing out in front of the net, across the goal, and onto Cody Eakin’s stick. Eakin sent a pass over to our old pal Alex Tuch, who seemed to have a clear shot on net, a gimme of a game-tying goal.

Except Braden Holtby was having none of it, and unleashed a stop that would henceforth be known as The Save.

SIR.

Let’s look at a few more angles, shall we?

You can actually pinpoint the second when Alex Tuch’s soul leaves his body:

Tag yourself. Personally I was all three guys in this GIF at some point during and after that save, but YMMV.

That save was a game-changer. Perhaps a series-changer. An instantly iconic moment in what had already been a run filled with them. After Holtby’s save, the boys held on for the final 1:59 – and with that, the Washington Capitals had taken the very first Stanley Cup Final win in franchise history.

They were coming home with a huge win, a series tied at 1-1…and Stanley Cup Final hockey was headed back to the District. Let’s celebrate.

And hug. Your. Damn. Goalie.

Condensed Game:
Defining Moment:

As if it could be any other moment.

They Said It:

“I screamed, ears are still ringing. [Orpik]’s one of those old-school pro guys. I’ve only played with three or four of them. He’s one of those guys, and to see him get rewarded on the scoresheet, it’s exciting.”- T.J. Oshie

“Every time this team has faced some adversity, whether it’s been down in a series, in games, or we’ve lost important players at crucial times, players have just stepped up to the plate and everybody has just been a little bit better.” – Lars Eller

“[Eller] just played outstanding. It seems like he’s one of those guys who has a knack for the stage, for the extra responsibilities, and he does a great job with it.” – T.J. Oshie

“[Eller]’s a guy who is kind of our secret weapon. It’s hard to play (against him) when he’s on top of his game and when he feels the puck. When he creates the moment for us, he was pretty big for us.” – Alex Ovechkin

“Once [Holtby] made that save I knew we were going to win the game.” – Barry Trotz

“He made a great save.” – Alex Tuch

“My heart stopped on the bench.” – Andre Burakovsky

“I was like, ‘Oh no. But then I was like, ‘Oh yes.’ ” – Nicklas Backstrom

“The save of the year. Maybe the save of a lifetime. It’s unreal.” – Jay Beagle

“Thank God he’s our goalie.” – Alex Ovechkin

“That’s hockey, sometimes….Just one of those things.” – Braden “The Save” Holtby

Additional Reading:
  • Holy Holtby [Caps]
  • #CapsKnights Postgame Notebook: The Save [Caps]
  • 2018 NHL Stanley Cup finals: Holtby save, Orpik goal give Capitals Game 2 win over Golden Knights [WaPo]
  • Kuznetsov injured in Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final for Capitals [NHL]
  • Golden Knights fall 3-2 as Capitals even Stanley Cup Final [LV Review-Journal]
  • Capitals respond with Game 2 win against Golden Knights [NHL]
  • LISTEN: Highlights from Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final [WTOP]
  • Ovechkin embraces intangibles as he leads Capitals past Knights [LV Review-Journal]
  • Golden Knights stay upbeat after Game 2 loss in Final against Capitals [NHL]
  • Veteran Orpik gets his moment as Capitals claw back in Game 2 [Sportsnet]
  • Holtby save draws raves from Capitals after Game 2 win vs. Golden Knights [NHL]
  • Braden Holtby just what Capitals needed in Game 2 [LV Review-Journal]
  • Braden Holtby’s must-see Stanley Cup finals save had a goalie calling it the ‘greatest’ he’d ever witnessed [WaPo]
  • What made Braden Holtby’s save so good? Let Olie Kolzig explain. [WaPo]
  • ‘That was crazy. That was insane’: An oral history of Braden Holtby’s save that propelled the Capitals to the Cup [The Athletic]
  • Holtby stirs memories of Dryden with stunning save for Capitals in Game 2 [NHL]
  • Here is every conceivable angle of Braden Holtby’s jaw-dropping save [WaPo]
  • With iconic save, Braden Holtby joins John Riggins and Jayson Werth in D.C. sports lore [WaPo]
  • Turns out Marc-Andre Fleury is human, and the Stanley Cup finals are even [WaPo]
  • At Capital One Arena, a rowdy, joyful Game 2 celebration for Capitals fans [WaPo]
  • Marchessault, Chiasson put friendship on hold during Stanley Cup Final [NHL]
  • Nationals pitcher thrilled to have DH so he can watch Capitals [NHL]