Lars Eller scored with 7:37 left in third period Thursday night, to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in game five of the Stanley Cup Finals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Caps win the series 4-1, and win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history which spans 44 years.
Alex Ovechkin was named the Finals MVP and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy. Washington had trailed 3-2 entering the third, but a game tying goal by Devante Smith-Kelly on a rebound while falling to the ice set up the game winner for Eller. Jakub Vrana and Ovechkin had the other Capital goals and Braden Holtby made 28 saves. Washington finishes their historic season with a final overall record of 65-34-7. The only other appearance before this year in the finals for Washington was in 1998, when they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.
Reilly Smith, David Perron, and Nate Schmidt scored for Vegas while Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves. The Golden Knights are in the first year of existence and had an excellent season making the Cup Finals in their expansion year and becoming first team to do so since the 1967-68 St Louis Blues. Still no team in NHL history has won the finals in their first year. Vegas had only lost three games over the first three playoff series combined. This was first time all season Vegas had lost more than three straight games, as they had won game one but dropped the final four of this series, finishing with a final overall record of 64-31-7.
