After the game on Wednesday, most of the frustration - if there was any - surrounded a missed chance on a crucial 5-on-3 early in the third period. Forward Tom Wilson was called for interference at 3:13 of the third, followed by forward Lars Eller at 4:05. What resulted was 68 seconds of two-man advantage that saw the Golden Knights put the puck on Braden Holtby nine times, without any results.
"I think we had good looks," Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "We just need to be more selfish and shoot the puck. The plays were there. They played it well too. We have to give them credit, and their goalie made some good saves. So it's just the way it went tonight."
They also watched, stunned, when Holtby made what could have been the save of the entire playoffs on Alex Tuch with less than two minutes remaining. Holtby barely got the blade of his stick on the puck with his arm outstretched and his body at the far reaches of the crease, a highlight-reel save Tuch will likely be thinking about on the flight to Washington.
"I think we'll get one back," Tuch said. "I've got to bury that, though."
They will need those saves from Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed three goals one game after allowing four to the Capitals in Game 1. They will need to, as Schmidt said, "Play more direct. Play to our strengths. Try not to get sucked into the transition game that they want to play."
They scored first for the ninth time in nine home games at 7:58 of the opening period, by James Neal. But then the Capitals scored three consecutive goals (Lars Eller at 17:27 of the first, Alex Ovechkin at 5:38 of the second on the power play, Brooks Orpik at 9:41 of the second). The Golden Knights got one back, at 17:47 of the second on the power play, but they could draw no closer.
Even so, they were calm after Game 2. They understood that it was one loss, one minor step back in the path they've taken all season.
"Nobody said it's going to be a 4-0 series," forward Erik Haula said. "It's going to be ups and downs. We've been here before, we've been good on the road. Just put this behind, just learn from your mistake, just try to do little things better and that's it."
That's the plan. That's what the Golden Knights will take into Game 3 on Saturday, knowing that this will be the first Stanley Cup Final game in Washington in 20 years, knowing how much that will mean to the Capitals and their fans.
"They're going to be all fired up to play at home," Schmidt said. "You've got to know that you're going to be able to hopefully use that energy against them and make sure that you're ready to rock. Because they're not going to roll over this time of year."
They have earned it in each of the past three rounds. They have earned it in vanquishing the Kings and Sharks and Jets. So for the Golden Knights, this is familiar territory. And that makes them confident that they can do what they've done before, continue on the "impossible" path they've been on since the start of the season.
Because a bump? That doesn't concern them. They've overcome far more.
As Fleury said, "We didn't expect it to be easy."
