Round 4: Stanley Cup finals: Game 2
Series: Golden Knights lead series 1-0
Wednesday May 30 Washington Capitals vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights
Place: T-Mobile Arena
Time: 8:00 p.m.
TV: NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
NHL.COM for Live Box Score
Last Game: May 28 Golden Knights won Game 1 6-4 in regulation.
8-Ovechkin 92-Kuznetsov 43-Wilson
13-Vrana 19-Bäckström 77-Oshie
65-Burakovsky 20-Eller 10-Connolly
18-Stephenson 83-Beagle 25-Smith-Pelly
9-Orlov 2-Niskanen
6-Kempny 74-Carlson
44-Orpik 29-Djoos
70-Holtby (starter)
31-Grubauer
-- SCRATCH --
39-Chiasson
79-Walker
72-Boyd
63-Gersich
64-Pinho
28-Jerabek
22-Bowey
1-Copley
-- 1st Powerplay Unit --
77-Oshie 19-Bäckström 92-Kuznetsov
8-Ovechkin 74-Carlson
-- 2nd Powerplay Unit --
13-Vrana 10-Connolly 20-Eller
2-Niskanen 9-Orlov
Referees: Kelly Sutherland (#11), Chris Rooney (#5)
Linesmen: Derek Amell (#75), Greg Devorski (#54)
Standby Referee: Marc Joannette (#25)
Standby Linesman: Matt MacPherson (#83)
Series Supervisor: Don Van Massenhoven
Las Vegas' Expected Lineup Forwards Jonathan Marchessault - William Karlsson - Reilly Smith
Alex Tuch - Erik Haula - James Neal
David Perron - Cody Eakin - Ryan Carpenter
Ryan Reaves - Pierre - Edouard Bellemare - Tomas Nosek
Defensemen Brayden McNabb - Nate Schmidt
Deryk Engelland - Shea Theodore
Luca Sbisa - Colin Miller
Goaltenders Marc - Andre Fleury (starter)
Maxime Lagace
Malcolm Subban, the Golden Knights’ usual backup goaltender, remains day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Golden Knights Coach Gerard Gallant said he expects Subban to return at some point during the Stanley Cup series, but he did not specify when that may be.
1st Period07:58 VGK GOAL Neal, assists Sbisa & Miller 1-0 VGK
17:27 GOAL 20-Eller, assists 6-Kempny & 65-Burakovsky 1-1 TIE
2nd Period05:38 GOAL 8-Ovechkin, assists 20-Eller & 19-Bäckström 2-1 WSH
09:41 GOAL 44-Orpik, assists 20-Eller & 65-Burakovsky 3-1 WSH
17:47 VGK PP GOAL Theodore, assists Smith & Karlsson 3-2 WSH
3rd PeriodNone
FINAL: 3-2 WSH
by Scott Allen, Jesse Dougherty, Neil Greenberg, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Dan Steinberg and Roman Stubbs May 30 at 2:09 PM
2018 NHL Stanley Cup finals: Capitals-Golden Knights Game 2
Nicklas Backstrom and the Capitals look to even the series Wednesday night. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Stanley Cup finals: Game 2
Washington Capitals vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights
Series: Golden Knights lead 1-0
Wednesday May 30, 8:00 p.m. ET, T-Mobile Arena
TV: NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS
Remaining schedule
Game 3: at Washington, 8 p.m. Saturday June 2
Game 4: at Washington, 8 p.m. Monday June 4
Game 5 (if necessary): at Las Vegas, 8 p.m. Thursday June 7
Game 6 (if necessary): at Washington, 8 p.m. Sunday June 10
Game 7 (if necessary): at Las Vegas, 8 p.m. Wednesday June 13
- The Capitals allowed the Golden Knights to dictate the style of play last game, can Washington slow speedy Vegas in Game 2? (Read more)
- Neither team will change its lineup. (Read more)
- Just one game into the Stanley Cup finals and hard-hitting Washington forward Tom Wilson is again in the spotlight. (Read more)
- The Capitals are hoping for a better playing surface in Game 2 after “pretty bad” ice conditions at T-Mobile Arena. (Read more)
Top story lines
Pace of play: These Capitals play faster than past Washington teams, but they also don’t want to get into a track meet with the speedy Golden Knights, which is what happened in Game 1. The 6-4 Vegas win was thrilling with multiple lead changes and frenetic action on both sides, but it didn’t match Washington’s tight-checking, defensive style of play. Forward Brett Connolly said the Capitals “didn’t find our game,” as the Golden Knights were able to dictate the pace.
“No team wants to be trading chances back and forth because then it’s up in the air as to who is going to core those goals,” Connolly said.
Though the team that wins Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals is then crowned champion roughly 78 percent of the time, the Capitals were confident despite the first loss. They lost their first game in the first- and second-round series, too, going on to then win both of those matchups. Players figured that if Game 1 was so close and they didn’t play to their preferred style, then that bodes well for when Washington does play well.
“If we bring our game to a level I know we can, as a coach I’m excited about that because I thought we left a lot our elements out there that we haven’t had in our previous series where I thought we had a pretty complete game,” Barry Trotz said. “So if we make the adjustments that we need and everybody gets back to a little more of our foundation, then I think we’ll be back in the series real quickly.”
• Goaltending: It feels like a missed opportunity that the Capitals were able to score four goals on Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and then not win the game. Fleury entered this final series with a .947 save percentage, and he hadn’t allowed four goals since his Game 1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference finals. He then won the next four games to lift Vegas to a series win, not allowing more than two goals in a game.
“We know how he play,” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. “We’ve played against him lots of times. We just have to do the same thing.”
Meanwhile, Washington goaltender Braden Holtby left Monday’s Game 1 with some things he wanted to clean up after allowing five goals, the most he’s been scored on in a game all postseason.
“I thought my puck-handling was not great,” he said. “I was recognizing the type of forecheck they were having, and I made the wrong decision on a few occasions. That’s just something you go back, watch the video and see where there’s defaults at times to get the puck back in our teams’ hands. Just little things like that, where every team plays a little different. You can watch all the video of how they play other teams, but you don’t know how they’re going to play you until you actually do it.”
Players to watch
Tom Wilson: Washington’s 24-year-old power forward again made headlines with his late, hard hit on Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault. While the NHL’s Department of Player Safety didn’t consider that a legal check, it also wasn’t a suspension-worthy one largely because there wasn’t head contact. Golden Knights Coach Gerard Gallant wished Wilson would’ve been called for a major penalty rather than a minor one, but he also felt the hit “woke up” his team. The Capitals typically expect Wilson to provide that kind of energy to their own bench. He’s a versatile top-line forward with four goals this postseason, including one in Monday night’s game. He could have an even bigger target on his back in Game 2 after the hard-hitting impression he made in the first contest.
“He’s one of the most physical guys in the National Hockey League and he’s playing with a couple of star players, and he hits like a truck” Trotz said. “But Tom has an effect, and positive and negative, he draws a lot of attention because of the way he plays.”
Ryan Reaves: The Golden Knights fourth-line forward, acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins this past February, was a huge (and unlikely) part of his team’s offensive success in Game 1. The fourth line scored three goals in Game 1 — two by Tomas Nosek (one an empty-netter) and another by Reaves — and that provided an offensive balance the Capitals could not match in a 6-4 win for the Golden Knights. Reaves has spent most of his career as an enforcer and did not score a goal in 21 regular-season games with the Golden Knights. He also has never scored more than seven goals in a season. It is more likely that Reaves’ next contributions to his team’s effort will be clearing space for teammates or, possibly, confronting Wilson after the hit on Marchessault. But every bit of offense is a boost when it is coming from Reaves and the fourth line, and they provided a big lift in the first game of this series.
“I think any goal that I score for the rest of the year is going to be the biggest in my career for sure,” Reaves said after the Golden Knights practiced on Tuesday. “Winnipeg was obviously real fun because it was in front of the hometown and I caught a couple of boos. It was good to finally get one in front of Vegas. It’s been three and a half months, so it was good to get one in front of them.”
Pregame reading
Immerse yourself in the Capitals’ postseason with The Post’s coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs:
Capitals still adjusting to ‘pretty bad’ ice conditions in the desert‘A little bit bittersweet’: Former Capital Nate Schmidt thriving in VegasThe house doesn’t always win: Las Vegas may lose millions on the Golden KnightsThe Capitals and Golden Knights share a road-trip tradition: Mario KartWhat was that? Braden Holtby and the Capitals look unsteady in high-scoring Game 1.Game 1 of Stanley Cup finals draws record TV ratings in D.C. and Las VegasThe Capitals can’t afford to play wide-open games against VegasAfter a Las Vegas show, a hockey game broke out at the Stanley Cup finalsTom Wilson trucks Jonathan Marchessault, draws scrutiny in Stanley Cup finalsA casual fan’s bandwagon guide to the Stanley Cup finalsThe best photos from the Capitals’ run to their first Stanley Cup finals in 20 yearsThe Washington Capitals’ path to the 2018 Stanley Cup finalsThe Stanley Cup in sight, Alex Ovechkin is all in as Capitals head to VegasGeorge McPhee and Brian MacLellan go back decades. Now their teams are playing for the Stanley Cup.In Stanley Cup finals, Capitals face down yet another familiar foe: Marc-Andre FleuryLas Vegas, shaken by tragedy, finds an unlikely rallying point: Its first-year NHL teamRemembering the Caps’ run to the 1998 Stanley Cup finals: ‘Nobody wanted to play against us’Evgeny Kuznetsov’s transition to borderline NHL superstarCapitals Coach Barry Trotz is a pending unrestricted free agent. His value is soaring.Look at Nicklas Backstrom’s gross, giant finger. It might be injured.Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom’s long journey together reaches Stanley Cup finals at last
