Before the Vegas Golden Knights advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, they faced an extremely difficult opponent in the Winnipeg Jets. However, the Golden Knights persisted and ultimately defeated one of the toughest teams in the NHL. A huge part of their success in round three was the play of Marc-Andre Fleury. One of the best performances seen from a goaltender in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Yet, even though Fleury allowed four goals in game one against the Washington Capitals, the offense came through in an enormous way. Monday night, the Knights and the Caps duked it out in a high-scoring affair that saw four lead changes.
Both offenses explode
Colin Miller opened the scoring in game one for the Knights with a hefty blast from the point where the puck zipped by Erik Haula and past Braden Holtby's glove.
It wasn't until about seven minutes later when things were riding smoothly for the Vegas Golden Knights, that the Capitals notched two goals less than a minute apart. Such a great start by the Golden Knights and for the lead to be erased like that, well, that just added to the drama.
In the same period, William Karlsson knotted up the game with a puck that bounced off the boards. Planted beside the net, Karlsson took the puck and quickly banked it off of Holtby and into the net.
At the start of the second period, the Golden Knights seemed to find their groove again when Reilly Smith lasered a puck top-shelf.
About four minutes later, Vegas almost scored again. Holtby, after unsuccessfully trying to catch the puck, watched the puck float behind him as it trickled towards the goal line. Fortunately, he was able to dive across and paddle the puck away.
To follow, John Carlson scored a beauty after a tic-tac-toe play with T.J. Oshie. Going against the grain, Oshie slipped the puck around a defender and onto Carlson's blade for a back-hand goal.
Vegas fourth-line takes control
The Capitals took the lead again in the third period when Tom Wilson tipped a shot that Fleury dragged into the net with his left skate. Caps up four to three, but it would not last long.
The fourth Vegas goal was a little controversial when Ryan Reaves cross-checked John Carlson in the back, creating space for a loose puck that Reaves ultimately put into the net.
As the Vegas defense grew stronger in the last 15 minutes of the game so did their fourth line. Shea Theodore pounced on a failed clear attempt by Devante Smith-Pelly and found a wide-open Tomas Nosek who blasted Vegas' fifth goal of the game to make it five to four. Vegas added an empty-netter with less than five seconds remaining to take game one six to four.
What to look for next?
Although Alexander Ovechkin only mustered one point in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals, he will come back strong in game two. He leads the Caps with 12 goals in the playoffs, and there will be much more to come.
It is not a time to panic for the Caps who matched up pretty well against the Knights. Credit the Capitals' offense that pulled out their bag of tricks tonight with some sick passes to foul up the Vegas defense.
However, they need to regroup on the back end in addition to a few key saves from Braden Holtby.
How about three goals from fourth-liners Ryan Reaves and Tomas Nosek in the third period? They could be the depth line that helps Vegas hoist the cup this year.
Also, look for the Golden Knights to tighten things up on defense. As long as they keep the Capitals' offense at bay, including shutting down Alexander Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom, and John Carlson, they have a good shot at winning this series. They feed off of their defense, and they will have the crowd behind them in game two.
Unlike the leaky game one, game two of the Stanley Cup Finals will be a tighter one. More hitting, bruising defense, stellar offense, and a Stanley Cup Final that is sure to keep your heart pounding.
