Knights squeak by Caps in Cup Final rematch (12-4-18)

By:Ryan Fowler

Headline Graphic Credit: Darrell Owens-LMS Network 

Las Vegas– Nate Schmidt scored twice, including the go-ahead goal on the power play with 1:25 remaining, as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Washington Capitals 5-3 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Schmidt, who played four seasons with Washington before he was selected by Vegas in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, gave the Golden Knights a 4-3 lead on his first goal of the season with 11 seconds left on Nic Dowd‘s double minor for high sticking. He took a pass from defenseman Shea Theodore near the Vegas blue line, skated into the Washington zone, and scored glove sidewith a wrist shot from the slot for his first goal of the season.

“Would’ve been cooler if it was last year [in the Stanley Cup Final], but still cool nonetheless,” said Schmidt, who scored into an empty net with seven seconds remaining for the 5-3 final score.

Cody Eakin had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Reaves and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored for the Golden Knights (15-13-1), who have won six of seven games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves.

Jakub Vrana scored two goals, and Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th of the season for the Capitals (15-9-3), who played at Vegas for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup on June 7 with a 4-3 victory in Game 5 of the Final. Braden Holtby made 23 saves.

“I just misread it for some reason,” Holtby said of Schmidt’s goal. “I’ll have to look at it again. I was reading the puck and thought it was going higher than that.”Washington has lost two in a row following a seven-game winning streak.

TWIZZLING THE TWINE

Reaves scored a power-play goal 2:30 into the game to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.

The Caps tied the game 1-1 at 15:33 of the first. After Brett Connolly forced a turnover by Theodore at the Washington blue line, he skated the puck deep into the Vegas zone and set up Vrana for a one-timer on a 2-on-1.

Ovechkin scored at 11:42 of the second period, beating Fleury with a backhand to make it 2-1 after the puck caromed off the active T-Mobile Arena boards.

Capitals forward Tom Wilson left the game with an upper-body injury at 15:42 of the second after he was hit by Reaves, who was given a game misconduct and a major penalty for interference.

“I thought he was just looking at his pass,” Reaves said on the controversial hit. “I thought he saw me. I thought he took a peek. If he sees me, I know he’s going to try and lay me out, and I’m not going to let that happen. I thought it was shoulder to shoulder and didn’t think it was that late.”

Washington coach Todd Reirden said Reaves was targeting Wilson the entire game.

“You could hear it on every face-off, you could hear the things that were being said, and it’s a blindside hit where an unsuspecting player hits his head on the ice,” Rierdensaid. 

The Golden Knights killed the Reaves penalty and scored two goals in 16 seconds early in the third period.

Bellemare tied it 2-2 at 2:33, and Eakin got his 200th NHL point when he scored for the 3-2 lead.

Vegas was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

Vrana scored his second of the night at 11:40 to tie it 3-3.

 POWER PLAY

Ovechkin has scored at least 20 goals in each of his 14 NHL seasons. It is the third time he reached 20 in 27 or fewer games (2013-14, 24 games; 2007-08, 27 games)…Ovechkin’s goal came on his 4,999th shot in the NHL.

 Up Next

Capitals: At the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (Dec 6) 

Golden Knights: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday (Dec 6.)

[R.F]