Posted on 06/07/2018 8:11:33 PM PDT by EdnaMode
Across their 43 seasons, the Washington Capitals have dabbled in hapless hockey and exquisite hockey, boring hockey and effective hockey, but never had they played winning hockey through four playoff rounds, all the way to a grueling, glorious end.
It took a team hardened by those postseason lures but liberated from high expectations to complete a run as dazzling as it was cathartic, capping it on Thursday night by dispatching the upstart Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3, to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
It was the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory in the finals after a disorienting 6-4 loss in the opener that made little sense in the context of how they played immediately before and afterward. After twice shutting out the offensive powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning to advance to its first Cup finals since 1998, Washington outscored the Golden Knights across these last four games.
The Capitals overwhelmed Vegas with the same elements that propelled them past Columbus, their nemesis Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay: stifling neutral-zone defense, superb goaltending by Braden Holtby and waves of prolific talent headlined by the superstar scorer Alex Ovechkin, who will no longer be labeled the best player never to win a Cup.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Yes, one African-Canadian ... the one who said he wouldn’t go to the WH because of DJT. So what?
Yes, one African-Canadian ... the one who said he wouldn’t go to the WH because of DJT. So what?
The year of the first time champions:
Astros, Eagles and now the Capitals.
I am not a fan of Putin-fan Aleksandr Ovechkin.
Craig McTavish was the last to not wear a helmet.
There are Russians on the team, yes.
Be funny if Ovechkin goes to the White House to meet President Trump. I can hear the cries of “Collusion!” already.
Smith-Pelly is a friggin' genius! How'd he figure all this out? I wonder where on the "Bell Curve" Charles Murray would place Smith-Smelly?
Smith-Pelly is a moron water boy for those pushing The Big Lie. The big lie theory is to keep repeating a big lie long enough and loud enough until it is taken as unquestioned truth.
Smith-Pelly makes 1.5 million dollars per year playing a white man's sport. That's raciss.
It’s nice to see new teams winning. :D
Yeah it’s disappointing. Nobody called Trump a “racist” until he became a Republican. It’s gotten tiresome at this point.
eagles have won 4 championships including 1948, 1949, and 1960
I don’t follow volleyball.
I guess Smith-Pelly doesn’t like all time low African American unemployment rates.
Good for the Caps! Down 0-2 in first round against Columbus, won 4 straight. Finally got past Pittsburgh and Sidney. Won a game 7 against Tampa and then beat a surprising team in Las Vegas. Happy for 8, 77 and 7.
Some people just don’t think about NFL history before the Super Bowl era, including the NFL marketing people.
I remember in the lead up to Super Bowl 50, there was a lot of advertising to the effect that this was the “NFL Golden Year”, or 50th year, golden anniversary. But the NFL was founded in 1920. It seems as if they ignore their own history prior to the first Super Bowl.
and Dale Hunter..
I do as well, and in a sense this victory is bittersweet. But I’ll take it!
My cousin in VA is happy.
Congrats to Caps fans for ending years of choking.
Vegas ran out of magic.
This DC native thanks you! It is an amazing sport, IMHO by far the most fun to play.
Yeah, only thing left is for the Lions to win the SB. If that happens, surely Armageddon is right around the corner.
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