Stanley Cup Final 2018 Alex Ovechkin helps Capitals take Gam

Posted by seestyle on August 4th, 2022

Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are two wins away from winning theirfirst Stanley Cup.

In his first home game on hockey's biggest stage,Ovechkin opened Chris Jones Jersey the scoring in the second period and the Capitals never looked back on their way to a 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 Saturday at Capital One Arena.Washington now holds 2-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

When the Final has been tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 ultimately has gone on to capture the 77.8% of the time since the series went to the best-of-seven format in 1939 (21-of-27 series).

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After the Capitals had a Chandler Stephensongoal disallowed in the first period for goaltender interference,Ovechkin left no doubts with a diving backhand effort 70 seconds into the middle frame. His second tally of the series was also his 14th of the playoffs, matchingJohn Druce's (1990)franchise record for goals in a single postseason.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was a game-time decision because of an upper-body injury, showed no signs of pain as hedoubled the Capitals' lead nearly 12 minutes later. Kuznetsov took advantage of a Golden Knights' turnover and carried the puck down the ice before firing a wrister under the arm of Jordan Lucas Jersey Marc-Andre Fleury.

Stanley Cup Final 2018:

Fleury, who made 23 saves on the night, kept his team in the game with some high-quality saves and got somehelp from the goalpost. TJ Oshie rang the pipe behind Fleury on two separateoccasions, the latter of which came momentsbefore Vegas cut the deficit in half in the third period.

Braden Holtby made a terrible pa sfrom behind his own net, gifting the Golden Knights a goal and a lifeline le s than four minutes into the final frame.

Holtby, who registered 21 saves in the win,recovered from the mistake and soaked up Vegas' late pre sure until Devante Smith-Pelly's goal gave the Caps some breathing room withjust over six minutes remaining.

The best-of-seven series will remain in Washington for Game 4 on Monday (8:00 p.m. ET).

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Here's how it went down as Sporting News provided live updates of Game 3of the Stanley Cup Final. (All times Eastern)

Game 3 result: Capitals 3, Golden Knights 1

Shots: Capitals 26, Golden Knights 22

Third period

11:02p.m. That's it! The Washington Capitals take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final with a 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.

10:59 p.m. Wilson fires a shot at the empty net from the far Harrison Butker Jersey blueline, but mi ses wide for an icing.

10:57p.m. Fleury heads to the bench for an extra attacker with 2:40 remaining in regulation.

10:47p.m. Goal Washington! Devante Smith-Pelly restores the Capitals' two-goal lead. Jay Beagle takes the puck off Theodore in the corner and finds Smith-Pelly, who waits a half-second before beating Fleury over the glove. Capitals 3-1, 6:07 remaining in the period.

. restores the two-goal lead.

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10:42p.m. Great work by Cody Eakin as he holds the puck in the Capitals' zone for nearly 30 seconds of the man-advantage. Vegas kills off the penalty without allowing significant chances.

10:36p.m. The Capitals will try to get that goal back on the power play asEngelland trips Backstrom behind the Vegas net. On further review, it looks like Stephenson'sstick Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Jersey got caught in his teammate'sskates, but nonethele s Washington's power play will go to work for the fourth time tonight.

10:30p.m. Goal Vegas! From behind his own net,Braden Holtby tries to backhand the puck down the middle of the ice and Bellmare gets a piece of the pa s. The puck deflects to Tomas Nosek, who fires it into an e sentially empty net. Game on! Capitals 2-1, 16:31 remaining in the period.

Nosek gets the on the board and it's a one-goal game.

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10:27p.m. Off the pipe! The Capitals have a short power play and nearly take advantage of it as Oshie rings a shot off the post. We are now back to even strength action.

10:25p.m. The puck is dropped for the start of the third period. Both teams will beginwith four skaters apiece as they each have carryover penalties from the second.

Second period: Capitals 2, Golden Knights 0

Shots: Capitals 21, Golden Knights 13

10:06p.m. That's the end of two periods of play at Capital One Arena. Evgeny Kuznetsov has givenWashington a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to play.

10:04p.m. Great defensive play by Niskanen on the penalty kill.The Capitals defensemanchips the puck out of the zone, then outhustles Theodore to it and is in on Fleury, until the netminder trips him up to save a goal. We'll skate 4-on-4 to end the frame.

10:02p.m. Theodore makes a nifty move around Smith-Pelly, who takes him out of the play with a slide. The Golden Knights will head back to the power play with 1:26 to play in the period. They're 0-1 on the man-advantage tonight.

9: Darwin Thompson Jersey 58 p.m. Carlson fires a cro s-ice pa s to Vrana, who plays the puck to Kuznetsov in between a pair of Golden Knights defensemen. The goalscorer fires a shot that Fleury gets a glove on and then gathers. Later in the shift, Fleury robs Tom Wilson with a sliding glove save. He's single-handedly keeping Vegas in this game as we reach the final three minutes of the second.

9:49 p.m. Goal Washington! The Golden Knights turn the puck over in the offensive zone, giving the Capitals a 3-on-1 rush. Kuznetsov decides to go alone andfires a shot under Fleury's arm into the back of the net. 2-0 Capitals, 7:10 remaining in the period.

Evgeny Kuznetsov scores to put the Capitals up 2-0 in the second period

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9:47p.m. The Capitals manage two shots and hit the post on the power play, but the Golden Knights manage to kill the penalty.

9:42p.m. Off the pipe! Oshie tips a point shot that rings the post and then hits Fleury's maskbefore being cleared to safety. Seconds later, the Golden Knights goaltender robs Ovechkin from his favorite spot with the glove.

Fleury just snared an Ovechkin wrist shot with the glove. Pimped it a bit Darron Lee Jersey at the end but aggre s