LAS VEGAS — The good news for the Capitals: They dropped the series opener in both their first-round and second-round series this postseason, only to rally and eliminate the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The bad news for the Capitals: Since the Stanley Cup became a best-of-seven competition in 1939, the winner of Game 1 has gone on to win 56 of the 78 series (good for a .718 winning percentage).
This may be relevant to the Capitals after they fell 6-4 to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Vegas improved to 7-1 at home this postseason.
Brett Connolly and Nicklas Backstrom scored 42 seconds apart in the first period to give Washington a 2-1 lead. John Carlson set a franchise-record with his 17th career postseason goal (most by a Capitals defenseman), and Tom Wilson gave the Capitals a 4-3 lead in the third period.
Three goals from the Golden Knights’ fourth line in the third period accounted for the Vegas comeback. Ryan Reaves tied the game with 17:19 remaining in the third period, while Tomas Nosek scored the eventual game-winning goal with 10:16 remaining and sealed it with an empty-net goal with two seconds left in the game.
Hear the Capitals highlights below as called by John Walton and Ken Sabourin and on the Capitals Radio Network.
