Eight years ago today, the Washington Capitals captured their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. The 43-year drought ended after the Caps secured a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, taking the series four games to one.
To celebrate the anniversary on Sunday, the Capitals posted a stop-motion video on their X account, focusing on Alex Ovechkin‘s number 8.
Capitals’ 8-year anniversary video
The Capitals reached the pinnacle of the hockey world at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena on June 7 — 6/7 — 2018. Ovechkin, Jakub Vrana, Devante Smith-Pelly, and Lars Eller scored the goals, while Braden Holtby made 28 saves to secure his 16th victory of the postseason after beginning Washington’s playoff run as Philipp Grubauer‘s backup.
Game 5 recap
After a scoreless first period, the second frame of Game 5 featured the teams combining for five goals.
Vrana broke the ice 6:24 into the period, taking a pass from Tom Wilson and scoring on a breakaway.
After former Capitals defenseman Nate Schmidt tied the game 3:16 later — Vegas selected Schmidt from Washington in the Expansion Draft the summer before — Ovechkin entered the conversation 34 seconds later, scoring on a one-timer during a Capitals power play. The captain beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a shot after receiving a brilliant sauce pass from Nicklas Backstrom, giving the Capitals a 2-1 lead.
The Golden Knights refused to go away, though, as David Perron and Reilly Smith answered to give Vegas back the lead heading into the final frame.
Heading onto the ice for the third, franchise legend status was achieved by two Capitals depth forwards. With 10:08 left in regulation, Devante Smith-Pelly lunged through the crease and shoveled the puck past Fleury to knot the score at 3-3. The clutch marker was his seventh of the postseason — a heroic performance from a player not even guaranteed to make the team heading into training camp.
Just 2:07 after Smith-Pelly tied the game, Eller delivered the biggest goal in franchise history. Brett Connolly’s shot slipped through Fleury’s pads and crept toward the goal line, where Eller was waiting alone at the side of the net to knock home the rebound, sending the Capitals into a frenzy.
The Capitals then held on for the final seven minutes and 37 seconds to do what seemed improbable at the beginning of the year.
The victory allowed Ovechkin to finally lift Stanley Cup over his head after 12 seasons.
The Great Eight paraded Lord Stanley’s Cup around the ice before handing it off to his closest running mate for most of those seasons, Nicklas Backstrom.
Ovechkin would also earn the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s MVP after recording 27 points (15g, 12a) in 24 playoff games. Evgeny Kuznetsov would lead the league in postseason scoring with 32 points (12g, 20a)
For many fans locally — definitely, for me — this was the greatest day in Capitals history and DC Sports history. For so many years, the Capitals couldn’t get over the hump.
And then one magical spring, from Barry Trotz’s hot laps to Kuzy’s series-winning overtime goal over the Penguins, everything just went right for a change. Then we were treated to the Summer of Ovi, which somehow was just as — if not more — memorable.
