FINALLY!
After 44 years in the league, and 20 years after their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Washington Capitals are the 2018 Stanley Cup Champions. 
After suffering the heartache and disappointment of the last ten years, the Ovechkin led Capitals have finally achieved the ultimate prize. This year, unlike other years, the Capitals would not be denied. Not by the Penguins, nor the upstart Vegas Golden Knights.
This team was resilient. This team never surrendered. This team had the heart of a champion, and it showed. After being down 2-0 to Columbus in the first round, they stormed back and won four in a row. After once again being down to Pittsburgh, we battled back and won that series 4-2, dispatching the 2-time Stanley Cup Champions on their home ice. 
And after jumping out to a 2-0 lead on the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Caps lost 3 in a row and looked like they might get sent home for the summer. But then something magical happened. The Caps didn’t fold, instead they dug down deep and came back to shut Tampa Bay out in games 6 and game 7 to win the series 4-3.
It seemed they had done the impossible. Ridding themselves of the Penguins and holding off the Lightening to win the Eastern Conference for only the second time in their history. But that was not enough. They wanted more, and the Caps fans wanted more. We all wanted to see them raise the Cup. But first, they would have to get past Vegas and their arch nemesis, former Pittsburgh Penguin goalie, Marc Andre-Fluery.
After losing the first game 5-4 in Vegas it was gut check time. Going down 2-0 would have been a deep hole to get out of. The Caps came out with determination in game two and had a one goal lead late in the third period, and then it happened…”The Save”.
What seemed to be a wide-open net and sure tying goal was miraculously stopped by a lunging Holtby…it was, unbelievable!
With the series tied at 1-1, the Caps returned home to a city on the brink. Thousands of fans had attended viewing parties for the first two games and now the home arena was filled to capacity with thousands more in the streets outside. With the support of the fans, and the sheer determination of their Captain, the Capitals hammered the Golden Knights and won the next two games to take a 3-1 lead in the series. It was time to go back to Vegas and finish this.
The fifth game was tense from the start. Vegas had its back against the wall and they 
fought hard. Going into the third period they had a one goal lead and it looked like the series would be going back to Washington. But when the third period started, the Caps came out with confidence, and they pressed the Golden Knights who seemed to be sitting back, just trying to protect the lead.
And then, at around the 10-minute mark, the Capitals struck. Devante Smith-Pelly took the puck from skate to stick, and while falling to the ice managed to put the puck past Mark Andre Fluery to tie the game.
Shortly after that, around the 7-minute mark, the Golden Knights coughed up the puck behind their net. Andre Burakovsky threw the puck out in front to Brett Connolly, who skated in uncontested and took a slap shot that trickled through the goaltender’s pads.
The loose puck was picked up by Lars Eller and deposited into the back of the net giving the Capitals a one goal lead.
After that, the Capitals shut down the Vegas Golden Knights and went on to win the game. What transpired after that was nothing short of bedlam. The Capitals, and the whole of DC, went crazy! They had done it. No epic collapse, no early out, no questions about their grit or heart; no one wondering if Ovie had what it takes to win a cup. The Cup was ours…we were the Stanley Cup Champions. Let the celebration begin…
Canada Hockey Trips 