The Caps have dropped Game One on the road in an explosive 10-goal affair that made neither goalie look like a Conn Smyth winner.
First up was Colin Miller, who slapped a power-play goal before the game was eight minutes old. The Caps woke up with a Brett Connolly deflection, and they briefly held a lead after Nick Backstrom backhanded a goal, but Bill Karlsson cleaned up a rebound to keep it tied after one period.
The Caps looked better in the second, but Vegas struck first again anyway off the stick of Reilly Smith. TJ Oshie sent a gorgeous pass to John Carlson for an equally gorgeous goal, and we were again tied after two periods.
Under threat of Tom Wilson, Marc-Andre Fleury own-goal’d in the third, but then Ryan Reaves scored in defiance of all law and reason to tie it yet again. Devante Smith-Pelly’s failed clear gave Vegas the lead when Tomas Nosek finished on a great pass from Shea Theodore. David Perron added empty netter late.
Knights beat Caps 6-4. Knights lead the series 1-0.
This is the arena where Game 1 *isn't* being played. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/RB3DCLvJLe
— NHL (@NHL) May 29, 2018
Ryan Reaves scores to tie it up 4-4 pic.twitter.com/FeK6aFxLKI
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) May 29, 2018
Tom Wilson's late hit on Jonathan Marchessault pic.twitter.com/QhWfEbyMdK
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) May 29, 2018
I Miss Joe B of the night
This was a game of chess played with firecrackers, a duel obscured by explosions. Each time a team eked out a lead, the other team responded appropriately. And with so many goals, it should have been an excellent night for fans, but this is the NHL, and they can’t not shoot themselves in the testicles. The Reaves no-call, then the handwringing over Wilson’s bad hit, then the mysterious no-calls for the duration of play all serve to make the Stanley Cup Final look like Calvinball.
Oh, and the Caps. Yeah, the Caps need to dial it in here. They were too punchy to start, too delicate. The Knights are too tenacious for a finesse game. If victory can be had, it’ll require hits – clean ones – to make space. So let’s see that on Wednesday please.
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