Caps on top: Washington wins Stanley Cup, beats Vegas 4-3

Published 3:35 am Friday, June 8, 2018

LAS VEGAS (AP) — After 43 seasons, the Washington Capitals are finally sitting on top of hockey.

Lars Eller scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:37 to play, and the Capitals raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 on Thursday night.

Devante Smith-Pelly tied it with a full-stretch goal midway through the final period of the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory over the Golden Knights, whose incredible expansion season finally ended in the desert.

So did the Capitals’ agonizing wait for their first championship since the franchise’s debut in 1974. After so many years of postseason flops and crushing disappointment, these Capitals won their fourth consecutive closeout game with a tenacious third-period comeback.

Captain Alex Ovechkin, who scored an early power-play goal, and his teammates are Washington’s first championship hockey team — and the city’s first champion in a major pro sport since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in early 1992.

Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after scoring his franchise-record 15th goal of the postseason. When he received the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, he shouted “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” through his gap-toothed grin before skating away and hoisting the prize over his head for a victory lap in front of thousands of red-clad fans.