If game one of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals was any indication of things to come, this is going to be an epic battle between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals. The short of it is the Golden Knights took down game 1 with a final score of 6-4, but the score hardly tells the whole story.
The evening started out with a spectacular pregame show, done the way things can only be done in Vegas. It’s amazing to realize that the action on the ice was able to one-up such a spectacular event.
After securing a 4-1 series win in the Western Conference title, the Golden Knights sat on the sidelines, awaiting news of its Finals opponent. The Western Conference champs had every right to show a little rust after waiting eight days to get back into action. Perhaps the only one who showed any signs of rust was Golden Knights’ goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed four goals on 28 shots. That aside, the offense didn’t miss a beat.
The Knights were the first ones on the board when Colin Miller scored his third playoff goal seven minutes into the first period. The first period ended in a 2-2 tie as the offense dominated the action. In the second period, the two teams would play to a draw, leaving the score at 3-3 headed into the last period.
Early in the third period, the Capitals would take the lead at 4-3 when Tom Wilson netted his fourth goal of the playoffs. From there on out, it was all about the Golden Knights—more specifically about the Knights’ fourth line.
Early in the third, Ryan Reaves scored an unassisted goal to tie the score. At the 9:44 mark of the period, the Knights’ fourth line flexed its muscles when Tomas Nosek scored on an assist from Shea Theodore to give the Knights the lead for good. As insurance, Nosek scored an empty netter with only :03 remaining in the game.
It worth noting that both defenses allowed the opponent to score the most goals given up during this year’s playoffs. There were four lead changes and the action was fast and furious from the drop of the first puck. If the rest of the Finals play out in the same fashion, fans had better buckle up.