04-09-2025, 02:01 PM
The 2018 Stanley Cup finalists are set, and it's ... not at all who most people predicted. The Capitals, a poster child for playoff heartbreak in their 43 years of existence, meet the Golden Knights, an expansion team seeking to complete the most improbable championship run in the history of North American profe sional sport. The series begins Monday, May 28, in Las Vegas, and could extendall the way to June 13, when a Game 7 would become the cherry on top of what's been one of the most unpredictable Stanley Cup playoffs in recent memory. This time last year, the fledgling Golden Knights Ronnie Bell Jersey had yet to select their roster. The wildest of imaginations couldn't have anticipated they would be playing for a championship le s than 12 months later. Even the hometown sports books weren't enthusiastic, offering opening odds ranging from 150-1 to 500-1 for Vegas to win the Stanley Cup in itsfirst year, a feat never accomplished in the NHL, let alone sports history. GOLDEN STANDARD Led by Marc-Andre Fleury and his band of Golden Misfists, the Knights pa sed the preseason over/under of 26.5 wins by Jan. 2, toppled their projected season point total of 68.5 on Jan. 30 and won the Pacific Division on the way to setting every NHL expansion team record in the book. As an encore, they sliced through the Western Conference playoff field, losing only three games out of 15 to reach the Stanley Cup Final. In completing the feat, they'd join the likes of2016 Premier League champion Leicester City and the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympichockey team . The Capitals faced tall odds of their own, though the difference between thesetwo franchises couldn't be more stark. , this year's Capitals are a shell of the Presidents' Trophy-winning juggernauts that perennially fell short in the Alex OvechkinEra.After losing the first two games to the Blue Jackets in the opening round, it seemed they were headed for a similar fate. MORE: Washington has gone 12-5 since, vanquishing the rival Penguins, a frequent foil in recent years, and their Game 7 demons to advance to the franchise's first conference finals and Stanley Cup Final since 1998, when it was swept by Detroit. Ovechkin, now 32, followed up an age-defying rebound season in which he led the NHL with 49 goals to author his greatestperformance yet in pursuit of his elusive first Cup, joining runningmatesEvgeny Kuznetsov and Braden Holtby . Therein lies the great irony of this matchup.On one side, an opportunity to vindicate all previous shortcomings by delivering D.C. its first major profe sional sports championship since 1991. On the other, a franchise thatknows only succe s, attempting to finish off a dream first season in the Sin City, of all places. Sporting News' NHL experts , and make their series predictions below. MORE: Golden Knights (-139) vs. Capitals (+126): Schedule, picks, predictions Game 1: May 28 at Vegas,8 p.m.(NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, fuboTV) Game 2: May 30 at Vegas, 8 p.m. (NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, fuboTV) Game 3: June 2 at Washington, 8 p.m. (NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, fuboTV) Game 4: June 4 at Washington, 8 p.m. (NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, fuboTV) *Game 5: June 7 at Vegas, 8 p.m. (NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, fuboTV) *Game 6: June 10 at Washington, 8 p.m. (NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, fuboTV) *Game 7: June 13 at Vegas, 8 p.m. (NBC, CBC, Sportsner, fuboTV) (All times Eastern; * If nece sary) Regular season meetings: VGK, 3-0 (12/23); VGK, 4-3 (2/4) MORE: Tale of the tape Offense: Chris Conley Jersey The Capitals are second in goals per game (3.47) these playoffs. It's carried them this far, with postseason scoring leader EvgenyKuznetsov(11 goals, 24 points) providing Ovechkin(12 goals, 22 points) with akind of offensive support henever received in past runs. Nicklas Backstrom, who's mi sed four games to injury, is also contributing at a point-per-game pace (1.07) and is beginning to look more like himself. That said, the Golden Knights counter with what's been the best line in the playoffs withJonathan Marche sault,Reilly Smith and William Karl son. Vegas' top sixforwards haveaccounted for 29 of41 playoff goals. Advantage: Split Defense: Vegas and Washington rank second and third in goals against during the playoffs. A lot of that has had to do with stellar goaltending (more on that below), but the Capitals have been better at suppre sing shot attempts (28.2 on goal per game). Michal Kempny, acquired from the Blackhawks at the trade deadline, as been an underrated addition on the top pairing with John Carlson. Vegas staggers its top three of Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore and Collin Miller acro s its top three pairs, all of whom excel at moving the puck up the ice. Advantage: Split MORE: Goaltending: See Exhibit A. Good morning, Marc-Andre Fleury has prevented ~18 goals more than an average goalie would have in his spot. That's about 14 goals better than Braden Holtby, who is third-best in the playoffs. Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) Advantage: Golden Knights Special teams: At 28.2 percent, the Capitals own the second-best power play of the playoffs and lead all teams with 17 goals on the man advantage. That may not matter against the Golden Knights, who have killed82.5 percent of opposingpower plays. The Caps lag far behind on the kill (75.4) and got into a ton of penalty trouble against the Lightning, but we'll allow a benefit of the doubt since they just overcame Tampa and Pittsburgh, the NHL's two most potent units. Vegas, meanwhile, has struggled to generate much offenseonpower plays of their own (17.6 percent). That's going to have to change. Advantage: Capitals Coaching: Not to discredit what Barry Trotz has accomplished, keeping the Capitals focused and loose despite tense outside pre sure to avoid yet another choke job. Trotz was coaching for his job this postseason, and his move to Braden Holtbyin the first round probably saved it. But Gerard Gallant continues to amaze with one of the most masterful coaching jobs in the history of the NHL. Teams have yet to solve the enigma he's created in the Golden Knights. Advantage: Golden Knights MORE: Staff predictions Brandon Schlager(10-4): More often than we care to admit, this goofy game we call hockey is unexplainable. An expansion team winning the Stanley Cup? Why not! The Capitals' run is to be admired. Ovechkin and Co. have answered all the outside questions, silencing their critics. To see No. 8 hoist the Cup above his head, cementing a Hall of Fame legacy, would make for a great story and I wouldn't complain one bit. But there's a magic about these Golden Knights I'm not sure any team can compete against right now. I thought the Jets would lead totheir undoing, but Vegas made the NHL's second-best team look like a No. 8 seed in a quick five-game knockout. Some members of the Knights openly wondered if Winnipeg had used up all its power on dispatching Nashville in a seven-game slugfest a series before. The Capitals are a formidable opponent, to be clear, but they're coming off a Game 7 of their own, blowing the 2-0 lead and then expending a ton of energyto avoid another collapse. And a goalie as hot as Fleury, even if he meets some regre sion, isn't something to bet against. Thiswill be a great, closely-contested series.The hockeyworld hasdiscounted the Knights' run for months. Now that they're four wins from Jontre Kirklin Jersey arriving at the NHL's pinnacle in their first season, I'm done doubting this group. Golden Knights in 6 Evan Sporer(8-6): Ovechkin and theCapitals finally reaching the Stanley Cup Final only to come against an expansion team from Las Vegas is like the weird plot to a fan fiction movie I would have expected like three years ago. And even beyond that, there are some interesting subplots and storylines to one of the more bizarre Cup Final matchups in recent memory: the Capitals trying to get over that last hurdle by defeating former general manager George McPhee, who was the architect of so many great Capitals teams that fell just short;the Capitals needingto finally get past Fleury to clear that final hurdle; and, oh yeah, an expansion team attempting to win a major championship in its inaugural season. As far as the hockey is concerned, Im 0 for 3 picking against Vegas in the playoffs. Interestingly enough, I think the Golden Knights actually match up better against the Capitals than they did the Jets, whom they dispatched in a quick five games. Mostly that comes down to depth: The Golden Knights have a good top-six forward group and a great top line. The Capitals, likewise, really dont go much deeper than their top six, but also have a much thinner blue line than Tampa Bay. That being said, there is still this ominous cloud (to me) hanging over Vegas,a bubble that Ive kind of been waiting to pop for the past five weeks. And thats not related to the unexpected succe s a first-year franchise is remarkably having, but more so Fleurys .947 (!!!) save percentage in these playoffs (which would shatter an NHL record), and the collective 12.72 percent Vegas top-six forwards have shot through the first three rounds. Fleurys run has been remarkable; take nothing away from that. Its just becoming more and more difficult to think he can sustain this level of play for another round, perhaps not unlike what Frank Gore Jersey weve seen out of Pekka Rinne in Nashville the past two postseasons. Vegas has won 12 games in this playoff run seven of them by a single goal, another two by two goals thanks to an empty-net tally. Fleury has saved 17 (!) goals above a replacement-level player, the kind of performance that seems slightly significant given all those one-goal victories. Thats in part why Im picking the Capitals. Everything I think I know about hockey tells me that even if Vegas continues to play well, theyre (majorly) due toregre s. On the other side, it really seems likeBackstrom is getting his timing back after mi sing four games with that hand injury. Hes clearly not at 100 percent physically, but that didnt stop him from dishing out one of the best a sists of the entire postseason Kurt Benkert Jersey in a must-win Game 6 against the Lightning. Hotlbys resurgence came at the perfect time for Washington, and there really isnt a whole lot else to be said about Ovechkin. Hell likely go down as the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history, and hes show during these playoffs how he can take over a game in a number of different areas. Capitals in 6 Jim Cerny(9-5): Here's a shocker: I could argue this one either way and make a really convincing case for either the Golden Knights or the Capitals asthe next Stanley Cup champion. That's how tight I think this one is, one of those "too close to call" situations. Yet, it's our job to make a choice, so I will. First, be prepared to see two teams play with similar levels of desperation and defensive commitment because that has set both the Golden Knights and Capitals apart, so far, in the playoffs. Winning puck battles, turning the opposition over, shutting down both pa sing and shooting lanes, blocking shots, selling out to all of the above in the defensive and neutral zones? Yup, both teams have played that way in spades through three rounds. Clutch, great goaltending? Yeah, plenty of that, too, from Marc-Andre Fleury and Braden Holtby. Vegas is the top defensive team in the playoffs, Caps are No. 3. Expect sometight games in this series. Offensively, the best players on both teams -- Jonathan Marche sault and William Karl son, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov -- have been the best players, and will need to continue to be. But both sides have received plenty of depth help -- that's how teams reach the Cup Final every year, right? That will need to continue on both sides now here in the final round. If Andre Burakovsky's Game 7 against the Lightning is a sign of things to come here in the Final, that could be a real game-changer for the Caps. Washington's power play -- ranked No. 2 in the playoffs -- also could be a difference-maker against Vegas. So, those are observations. Now, the tough part is predicting a winner. Though it is tough to imagine Vegas losing only three games through the first three rounds and then dropping four in one round, that's how I see it.It's going to be tight, but I think the Capitals will grind out the final four wins to win their first ever Stanley Cup -- led by by an off-the-charts intense and focused Ovechkin, who will not be denied. Capitals in 6