Game 3: 3-1-0-1 (PTS-W-L-OT)
Wednesday October 10, 2018 Vegas Golden Knights @ Washington Capitals
Place: Capital One Arena
Time: 8:00 p.m.
TV: NBCSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
NHL.COM for Live Box Score
Last Game: October 4, Capitals Lost 7-6 against Penguins
8-Ovechkin 92-Kuznetsov 10-Connolly
13-Vrana 19-Bäckström 77-Oshie
65-Burakovsky 20-Eller 18-Stephenson
23-Jaskin 26-Dowd 25-Smith-Pelly
9-Orlov 2-Niskanen
6-Kempny 74-Carlson
44-Orpik 29-Djoos
70-Holtby (starter)
1-Copley
-- SCRATCH --
79-Walker
72-Boyd
22-Bowey
-- INJURED RESERVE --
-- SUSPENDED --
43-Wilson (17 games left??)
-- 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: Dean Morton (#36), TJ Luxmore (#21)
Linesmen: James Tobias (#61), Steve Miller (#89)
1st Period19:25 PP GOAL 92-Kuznetsov, assists 19-Bäckström & 74-Carlson 1-0 WSH
2nd Period10:18 GOAL 8-Ovechkin, assists 92-Kuznetsov & 10-Connolly 2-0 WSH
10:49 Knights GOAL Eakin, unassisted 2-1 WSH
3rd Period5:08 PP GOAL 19-Bäckström, assists 92-Kuznetsov & 74-Carlson 3-1 WSH
07:08 Knights GOAL Smith, assists Holden & Karlsson 3-2 WSH
10:33 GOAL 8-Ovechkin, assists 92-Kuznetsov & 10-Connolly 4-2 WSH
18:05 ENG 77-Oshie, assists 2-Niskanen & 9-Orlov 5-2 WSH
FINAL: 5-2 WSH
By Isabelle Khurshudyan October 10 at 1:37 PM
Vegas Golden Knights indifferent about Stanley Cup finals rematchs
After the Capitals beat the Golden Knights in a five-game Stanley Cup finals series last June, the two teams will meet again on Wednesday night. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
As the Vegas Golden Knights crammed into the quaint visiting locker room at Capital One Arena, they insist the feeling wasn’t different than any other game. Yes, they were here for two games in the playoffs. Yes, they lost both of those. No, that’s not weighing on them as they prepare to play the team that topped them for the Stanley Cup four months ago.
“Seriously, it hadn’t even crossed my mind,” Golden Knights Coach Gerard Gallant said. "Last year, they won the Stanley Cup. They were the better team in the final. They deserved it. They played well. This year, for me it’s about trying to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. That’s what we started out with. ... So, I’m not worried about, because Washington beat us in the final last year that we’re playing them Game 4 in the regular season. It means no more to me.
"Is it a rivalry? Do we really want to beat them? We want to win because we want two points. It has nothing to do with what happened last year in the playoffs.”
[Dmitrij Jaskin is the Capitals’ latest reclamation project]
Across the Potomac, at the Washington Capitals' practice facility in Arlington, players expected something different. The Pittsburgh Penguins ended their season in the second round in back-to-back years, so of course that fueled the Capitals whenever the teams played. After Vegas rolled through the Western Conference, Washington beat the Golden Knights in five games, arguably the Capitals' easiest series of the postseason.
“It was a great series for us but not for them," captain Alex Ovechkin said. “I think they a little bit angry.”
Said T.J. Oshie: “Just looking at experience, I think anytime, whether it’s in the first round or the finals, any time a team knocks you out, you usually have a little bit more fire. You kind of circle the calendar for that next game you play against them.”
But outside of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who said he’d rather start against the Capitals on Wednesday than play against his former team in Pittsburgh on Thursday night — “This is the team that beat us in the finals, and yeah, I just want to get back on the ice against them,” he said. Other Golden Knights players seemed indifferent about the early season rematch.
“I think everyone has turned the page and is moving on to this year,” Reilly Smith said. “There’s really no point to holding on to past emotions from last year.”
No date for Wilson appeal
A date hasn’t been set yet for Tom Wilson’s appeal hearing with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, but according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, it’s expected to be next week. Even if Bettman reduces Wilson’s 20-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety, Wilson and the NHL Players' Association could choose to then appeal to a neutral arbitrator. Wilson remains suspended during the appeal process.
He wasn’t on the ice with teammates at morning skate on Wednesday, and Capitals Coach Todd Reirden said “he’s going through some things, just dealing with the appeal process today," indicating that it’s related to him getting prepared for the hearing.
“When he gets back, we’ll have some different things for him this weekend that he hasn’t done before,” Reirden said, referring to Wilson’s practice regimen while he’s suspended. “Just to make sure that he’s on top of his game and continuing to get better and stay as sharp as he can.”
[With Tom Wilson out, Capitals’ Brett Connolly adjusting to life on top line]
Dilly, dilly, D.C.
T.J. Oshie’s signature Stanley Cup celebration, in which he pulled his jersey over his head and chugged beer through the cloth, is being immortalized in a new Bud Light T-shirt. Participating bars in D.C. will be giving away the shirts before Wednesday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
.@Capitals fans, there’s nothing quite like pulling a championship jersey over your head and drinking a Bud Light through it. A close second, you can pull this shirt over your head and take a drink of Bud Light through it! Pick yours up at bars during this week's rematch game. pic.twitter.com/9EEYmEyX9T
— Bud Light (@budlight) October 8, 2018
“I wondered why they wanted to send me a couple cases,” Oshie said. “I thought they were just being nice. But, yeah, pretty cool.”
Oshie is still part of a group chat with some of his old friends and teammates from North Dakota, and he said he first heard of the promotion when someone mentioned it in there. “Pretty clever idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it,” he said. “It’s retired for a while, I think. Hopefully I can bring it out again next June.”
Read more on the Capitals:
Capitals raise their first Stanley Cup banner in a red-rocking scene of revelry
An up-close look at the Capitals' very fancy Stanley Cup rings
Experts still don’t believe in the Stanley Cup champion Capitals
New season starts, but the Capitals' party doesn’t stop in banner-raising opener
Capitals call Tom Wilson suspension ‘garbage,’ ‘unfair’ as he weighs appeal
