The Washington Capitals downed the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 in Game Four of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. The Caps now take a 3-1 series lead into Game Five in Vegas with a chance to clinch the ultimate prize.
The Caps were out-shot 30 to 23 and out-attempted at five-on-five 53 to 28.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov became only the 11th player in NHL history to tally four assists in a Stanley Cup Final game. The last forward to do it before him was Joe Sakic in 1998 and before Sakic, Wayne Gretzky in 1988.
- Kuznetov also became only the 5th player since 1997 to record 30-plus points in a single postseason. The prior four were Evgeni Malkin in 2009 (36), Sidney Crosby in 2009 (31), Daniel Briere in 2010 (30), and Logan Couture in 2016 (30).
- Fantastic night from the Caps special teams units. The power play went a ridiculous 3 for 5 and the penalty kill successfully killed all four Vegas power plays. The Capitals currently hold the 3rd most lethal playoff power play since 1977-78 (when they first started tracking percentages) at a red hot 29.6-percent (minimum of 60 attempts). That success rate is only topped by the 1994 Toronto Maple Leafs (29.7-percent) and the 1981 New York Islanders (37.8-percent).
- Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly both scored their 6th goals of the postseason. That is good for fourth best on the team behind only Alex Ovechkin (14), Kuznetsov (12), and TJ Oshie (8). Who would have guessed that at the start of this season?
- Michal Kempny scored his second of the playoffs, making the game 5-2 and pretty much sealing the victory for the Caps. To be very honest, I only made this a bullet to brag about one of my tweets from 2016 that occurred before Kempny had stepped foot on NHL ice. Hire me scouting departments.
Kempny looks like he should probably be playing in the NHL
— Chris Cerullo (@CJC_95) September 18, 2016
- John Carlson‘s power play goal was his 54th career postseason point. That total ties him with Calle Johansson for the Capitals franchise record for most playoff points by a defenseman.
- Brayden McNabb has made about 6 incredibly questionable plays in this series alone and should be suspended for his late cross-check/board of Oshie. McNabb is not new to this style of play, just ask Joey Hishon who sadly had his promising NHL career ended by McNabb in the OHL.
- Teams that take a 3-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final have an all time record of 32-1 and have won 31 consecutive series. The one series loss was by the 1942 Detroit Red Wings who fell in four straight games after going up 3-0 over the Toronto Maple Leafs. That’s so long ago that war had just broke out in the Pacific.
- In other news, the Washington Capitals have blown more 3–1 series leads (five) than any other team in the history of major North American pro sports.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com, Hockeystats.ca, NaturalStatTrick.com, Capitals PR, and Corsica.hockey.
Full RMNB Coverage of Game Four
Headline photo: Gregory Shamus
