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Five Years Ago Today…Stanley Cup Final, Game 4

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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); Caps lead 2-1

The Setting:

June 4, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC

Game in a Nutshell:

Game 3 saw the Caps take their first lead of the series in front of a raucous, championship-starved, long-suffering DC crowd – and they got an early pregame boost from a local sports legend in former Washington football coach Joe Gibbs.

For Game 4, we had to get to another level. Enter some Nationals legends (and soon-to-be champions in their own right), Max Scherzer and Ryan Zimmerman.

Icons. Kings. Legends.

That little bit of delightful DC sports synergy out of the way, it was time to drop the puck.

The Golden Knights got the best chance early on, when just over a minute in, Alex Tuch (that poor bastard) fired a shot to the front of the net that deflected toward Braden Holtby…and off the pipe. A few minutes later, it was Reilly Smith in close, putting the puck just wide. Roughly a minute after that, James Neal. Alone. Wide open net. And he hit the post.

That sequence, that span of about five minutes, was the game in a nutshell for Vegas – and they’d never quite recover.

So the first Vegas power play went slightly awry. What would happen when the Caps took the ice with their first man-advantage of the evening? Let’s take a look:

It was a close game for a little while after that, the Caps hanging on to a 1-0 lead despite some solid chances by Vegas. That is, until the team’s top line took the ice, and started to ramp things up. Right off the faceoff, the trio got to work with some fancy passing and cycling around the net, from Alex Ovechkin to Tom Wilson to Evgeny Kuznetsov, back to Wilson in front of the net, who puts one past Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Caps a two-goal cushion.

And they weren’t done yet.

With about 20 seconds remaining in the first, the Caps got the benefit of yet another bounce that just made you believe the hockey gods were smiling on this team. Devante Smith-Pelly made a solid play to keep the puck in the offensive zone. The puck then bounces to Alex Ovechkin, who passes to Matt Niskanen, and Niskanen’s pass attempt was deflected…right to DSP, who had headed right to the net. It was his turn to go skate to stick, and just like that it was 3-0.

The Caps’ good luck – and the Knights’ bad luck – continued into the second, with a few more pipe shots around the period’s ten-minute mark keeping the home team’s three-goal lead intact. (Braden Holtby also made some huge saves, but getting by with a little help from your friends is never a bad thing, and tonight, the posts were his true besties.)

The Caps headed back to the power play with a handful of minutes remaining in the second, and this time it had a slightly different look. With Vegas starting to crowd around Ovechkin, the team’s extra-man unit made an adjustment (!), swapping the captain out for John Carlson. The move paid off big time.

T.J. Oshie, by the way. A man on a mission on this night.

So we’re on to the third period, the Caps up by a healthy margin. That is, until the Knights finally get on the board. The Caps had been on the penalty kill, Kuznetsov sitting for a trip – one of a hefty number of infractions in what would be a rather feisty third. Just as the penalty expired, James Neal made his way to the front of the net and this time didn’t miss, finding a hole over Holtby’s right shoulder to make it 4-1.

It would stay 4-1 until well into the second half of the period, when Reilly Smith – who had a knack for ending up all by himself near the net throughout his series – caught all of the Caps napping and deked a shot past Holtby to bring the Knights to within two.

If you were concerned about the Caps doing something vintage like letting this win slip through their fingers, T.J. Oshie and friends did a great job of sending that thought packing. About a minute after Smith’s goal, the two teams skating at four on four, one man wrecking crew T.J. Oshie carried the puck into the offensive zone and then fought off a hit by Colin Miller with a vicious counterhit of his own while dropping the puck off to Backstrom. Backstrom sent his typical ridiculous cross-ice pass over to – surprise! – Michal Kempny, who was sneaking in to Fleury’s right. Kempny placed a great shot on net that beat the Vegas goalie, and we were back to a three-goal lead.

It was getting late, and the penalty parade continued, with Nate Schmidt first making his way to the box with a little over three minutes remaining. Then, apparently upset by Oshie’s hit on Miller prior to the goal, old friend Brayden McNabb got back to his old tricks once again, cross-checking Oshie and causing a bit of a scuffle. The result? McNabb in the box, Oshie and Deryk Engelland tossed with 10-minute misconducts, and the Caps taking the ice with a two-man advantage.

With just over a minute remaining, this game was all but over – but there was still a nice little bit of poetry to come.

Let’s backtrack a bit to warmups ahead of Game 2 of the first-round series against the Blue Jackets. Brett Connolly was trying to give a puck to a young Caps fan named Keelan Moxley, only to have some dude snag his first attempt before she could get it and give it to a boy next to her. Connolly tried again, and the dude repeated this with a boy on her other side. (Seriously, dick move.)

Connolly’s third attempt was, thankfully, successful – but the Caps and Connolly also went out of their way to ensure that Keelan didn’t just get a puck but an incredible memory:

Brett Connolly: Best guy.

Back to this evening’s festivities. With Keelan and her family once again in the stands, the Caps on a two-man advantage, and the final minutes ticking away, the Caps didn’t really need another goal to seal the win. But having another one, and having it come off the stick of Brett Connolly, certainly made Caps fans everywhere – and one in particular – very happy.

That would be a wrap, a 6-2 final for the good guys.

While the final score would seem to suggest the game was a lopsided one in favor of the Caps, the truth was it was often closer than it seemed. Not to say that the home team didn’t play a very solid game and deserve to win – because they did and they did – but one team had the puck bouncing the wrong way all night, and the other team had it bouncing the right way, and that was the difference.

For once in the Capitals’ long, heartbreaking existence, they were the team getting the right bounces.

And were now suddenly just One. Win. Away. From the Cup.

Once again it is time for everyone to celebrate! Well…almost everyone. Sorry, not sorry, Bryce Harper.

Condensed Game:

Defining Moment:

They Said It:

“We’re trying to write our own story here and it seems like the rest of the city is on board with that. There’s been heartbreak here, we know that. But I think that has kind of scarred over and has made us a little stronger for it. We’ll just keep pressing on, keep working and try to do something pretty cool here.” – T.J. Oshie

“Maybe it shouldn’t have been a 3-0 lead after the first, but, you know, we will take it. We are not going to feel sorry for them.” – Nicklas Backstrom

“I don’t think [Oshie] lost a battle the entire night. That guy’s an animal.” – Tom Wilson

“[Oshie] never quits on pucks. His second efforts are one of the best I’ve ever seen. He’s so good at stripping pucks. He just competes and that’s why he’s so good. He’s obviously got a ton of skill, but he works for his chances, those second efforts. He really led the way tonight.” – Brett Connolly

“It’s a game of inches and sometimes it doesn’t go your way. It hasn’t so far but hopefully we’re able to turn that around for Game 5.” – Alex Tuch

“I thought we worked for our breaks tonight.” – Braden Holtby

“I had a wide open net, and I hit the post.” – James Neal

“It feels nice, but it’s not over yet.” – Alex Ovechkin

Additional Reading:

  • Heaven’s Just A Win Away [Caps]
  • #CapsKnights Postgame Notebook: Twenty Years After [Caps]
  • It’s all happening. The Capitals are one win away from the Stanley Cup. [WaPo]
  • Capitals top Golden Knights in Game 4, move one win from first Cup title [NHL]
  • Kuznetsov, Carlson among top Capitals performers in Game 4 of Cup Final [NHL]
  • This Capitals team is different. It is methodical, calm and ruthless. [WaPo]
  • Caps now face final demon: Closing out a 3-1 lead [WaPo]
  • Capitals know Stanley Cup Final isn’t over yet after Game 4 win [NHL]
  • Man of the people: T.J. Oshie rides Metro again, then is one of Capitals’ heroes in Game 4 [WaPo]
  • T.J. Oshie was 35 cents short on his Metro exit fare en route to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals [WaPo]
  • Oshie delivers for Capitals in Game 4 win against Golden Knights [NHL]
  • LISTEN: Hear the Capitals Highlights from Game 4 of the Stanley Cup [WTOP]
  • A Vegas shot hit the post — and the Golden Knights never recovered [WaPo]
  • Capitals power play ‘big difference’ in Game 4 win vs. Golden Knights [NHL]
  • ‘I’ve Waited 44 Years’: Capitals’ First Radio Voice Finally Calls A Stanley Cup Final [NPR]
  • Alex Ovechkin’s emotional ride through the NHL playoffs is the GIF that keeps on giving [WaPo]
  • Max Scherzer has a bounce in his step. It’s because of the Capitals. [WaPo]
  • Smith-Pelly enjoying ride through Stanley Cup Final with Capitals [NHL]
  • The Caps won, and it was pandemonium outside Capital One Arena [WaPo]
  • Lynda Carter, aka Wonder Woman, has so much Caps fever: ‘God, this town is on fire’ [WaPo]
  • Capitals Game 5 watch party sells out in minutes, amid massive demand [WaPo]