Capitals respond with Game 2 win against Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- The first victory in a Stanley Cup Final in the Washington Capitals' history did not come without its challenges.
But the Capitals demonstrated again Wednesday that when faced with adversity, they find a way to pull together and win.

Down a game in the best-of-7 series and trailing 1-0 in the first period, Washington, which lost center Evgeny Kuznetsov because an upper-body injury, battled back for a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena.
Game 3 is at Washington on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
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Lars Eller, who played well in place of Nicklas Backstrom when he missed four games with a right-hand injury earlier in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, was among those who stepped up, getting a goal and two assists. Brooks Orpik, who hadn't scored a goal in since Feb. 20, 2016 (220 games including the regular season and playoffs), scored what proved to be the game-winning goal.
And Braden Holtby made 37 saves, including an out-of-this-world stick paddle save on Alex Tuch with 1:59 remaining to preserve a victory that evened the series at a game apiece.
"Every time this team has faced some adversity, whether it's been down in a series, in games, or we've lost important players at crucial times, players have just stepped up to the plate and everybody has just been a little bit better," Eller said. "You hate to lose one of your best players, and hopefully we'll have [Kuznetsov] back soon, but we showed tonight and we've showed in the past that we can win even when one of our best players go down."

Washington heads back home feeling confident after defeating the Golden Knights in a building where Vegas had previously lost only once in the playoffs (7-1). The Capitals have been good on the road throughout the playoffs (9-3), and are one win away from tying the NHL record for most road wins in a playoff.
So perhaps it was fitting that Washington earned the first Cup Final win in its history on the road. The Capitals were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in their only previous Cup Final appearance (1998) and lost 6-4 in Game 1 here on Monday.
"We feel comfortable at any point in a series. That's one of the beautiful things about our group," Holtby said. "But this is a tough place to win, in Vegas, and it's shown throughout the League. And to come away with a split, it's good. But now we move forward, and we need to take advantage of our own rink, our own familiarity and focus on Game 3 because this game is gone now. We've got to focus on the present and the next moment."
The Capitals appeared to be in trouble when James Neal scored at 7:58 of the first period to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead before Kuznetsov was injured on a hit by Brayden McNabb with 5:18 left in the period.
But Eller again took advantage of the opportunity to play an increased role, scoring a 4-on-4 goal with 2:33 left in the first period to tie it 1-1.

Later, taking Kuznetsov's spot to the right of the net on the first power-play unit, Eller fed Alex Ovechkin in the bottom of the left circle for a power-play goal that gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 5:38 of the second period.
"He's a guy who is kind of our secret weapon," Ovechkin said. "It's hard to play (against him) when he's on top of his game and when he feels the puck. When he creates the moment for us, he was pretty big for us."
Eller continued his dominant play by carrying the puck into Vegas' zone and leaving a drop pass for Orpik, whose shot from the right circle deflected off Tuch past Marc-Andre Fleury to extend the Capitals lead to 3-1 at 9:41.

"I screamed. Ears are still ringing," forward T.J. Oshie said. "A leader of our team, a guy that just, he's one of those old school, ultimate pro guys that I've only played with three or four of them. He's one of those guys to see him get rewarded on the score sheet is exciting to me. It feels good and I'm sure it feels great for him, too."
Orpik also played a big role in killing off a 5-on-3 Golden Knights power play for 1:09 in the third period. Orpik and defenseman Matt Niskanen were on the ice for the entire two-man advantage and 2:19 of the 2:52 of overlapping penalties to Tom Wilson (interference at 3:13) and Eller (hooking at 4:05).
"This group has had everything thrown at them and they just say, 'You know what? We're just going to push on,'" Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "We're getting close. We have a vision of what we want to do and they really just want to continue to keep playing. That's the great thing. It's getting hard these games. They've been physical games, they've been all-in games, and we're actually loving it. Our group is actually thriving on it."