"They played better than us on both sides of the puck. That's the bottom line," acknowledged Erik Haula after the Capitals took the Stanley Cup with a 4-3 Game Five victory. "They deserved to win. It's tough to admit."
Winning Play
Before Game Five, Nate Schmidt stressed the two keys to the Knights' success: Speed and discipline.
Focusing on discipline, he didn't just mean avoiding the penalty box; he also meant mental and defensive discipline.
These qualities deserted Vegas, up 3-2, in the final frame.
This was one of many examples in a third period which saw two Capitals goals in the first 12:23. In this span of time, Washington outchanced Vegas 8-2 at even strength.
The most dominant player this series, Evgeny Kuznetsov, dusts William Karlsson. But that happens. It's the Vegas reaction -- almost unprecedented, considering how solid they've been defensively throughout the season -- which is a portrait, frankly, of the collapse of everything that they've stood for on the ice this season.
Three Golden Knights head off one Kuznetsov. It looks like a trick by the Russian magician -- Jakub Vrana is so wide open, even he seems surprised, as he bricks the shot.
Like I said, this was one of many similar breakdowns in the final frame.
"A guy like Kuznetsov, didn't have an answer for him," admitted George McPhee. "He's like a young Fedorov."
Between games, Gerard Gallant had talked about breaking their series habit of puck watching. Tomas Nosek had stressed, "Do what we did all year. Just be with your man."
But that takes discipline.
Schmidt had observed before the contest, "You just have to get back to enjoying this moment. We've let this moment kind of eat us up a little bit."
I think the moment took another bite here.
I'm sure the team, to a man, will describe this period's many mistakes as uncharacteristic. I agree. I have no doubt about this team's quality.
"At the end, we might have gripped the stick a little too tight," confessed Luca Sbisa. "Might have cost us this series."
Gallant, understandably, did not want to address his team's third period, saying simply, "The game is over. They were the better team. They won. They deserved to win. They played great hockey."
Pluses
From Marc-Andre Fleury teaching kids how to shoot at a local community center, 115 degrees outside, on the afternoon after the Expansion Draft, to Flower leading the team off the ice for the last time -- everything about this year was a plus.
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger •Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»