Washington—Finally—Wins Its First Stanley Cup

The Capitals came from behind in Game 5 to take the title from the Vegas Golden Knights.

Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals hoists the Stanley Cup after the team's 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals hoists the Stanley Cup after the team's 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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At the end of their inaugural season, the Vegas Golden Knights amazingly hosted the presentation of Lord Stanley’s Cup. Unfortunately, it was to the Washington Capitals.

In their 43rd year of existence, the Capitals became NHL champions for the first time with a 4-3 win over the Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night in the desert.

In a game that was close throughout, Lars Eller scored the tie-breaking goal with 7:37 to play and the Caps were able to hang on for their fourth consecutive victory over the Golden Knights.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin had a power-play goal earlier in the game and finished the postseason with 15 goals, becoming the first to reach that mark since 2009. For Ovechkin, who was spent all 13 of his NHL seasons in Washington, the victory was especially sweet.

“It doesn’t matter what happened before. We did it,” Ovechkin said. “That’s all that matters. Look at the smiles on my teammates. This is something you’ll never forget. This moment, I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’m so happy. It’s unbelievable.”

Nate Schmidt, David Perron and Reilly Smith all scored for Vegas in the loss. Despite coming up short, the Knights’ campaign is one of the greatest expansion team seasons in professional sports history.

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