The Washington Capitals are Stanley Cup champions for the first time in franchise history. They beat the Golden Knights 4-3 in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final in Las Vegas. Washington won the best-of-seven matchup four-games-to-one. Devante Smith-Pelly tied the game at three for the Caps midway through the third period and Lars Eller put them ahead at 12:23.
Jakub Vrana and Alex Ovechkin scored in the second period for Washington, which lost its only other Stanley Cup appearance in 1998. Braden Holtby made 28 saves in the win. Nate Schmidt, David Perron and Reilly Smith all had second-period tallies for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots in defeat. Ovechkin received the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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