Capitals Cup Final Notebook: May 27

Heading into the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, it might not be the best time to talk up hockey in Las Vegas, but plenty of Washington Capitals had great things to say at Sunday's Stanley Cup Final Media Day.
Multiple Capitals said it's great for the sport of hockey to have a franchise in a city known for its entertainment.
"It's a great city," said Washington forward Devante Smith-Pelly. "The city's been great to us and you can really feel the buzz. The team doing the intermission stuff, it'll create new fans and bring a different fanbase in. Having some sort of show, that can only be good for the game."

Not just for the fans, but Washington forward Tom Wilson said he thinks Las Vegas is the best city to play in, even as a visiting team. Well before he knew his team would take on the Golden Knights for the Stanley Cup, Wilson was still keeping an eye on T-Mobile Arena.
"Home games are one thing, everyone loves home games," Wilson said. "As far as road games go, Vegas was top. It was a lot of fun to play here, fun to play in front of that energy and that was the middle of the year. It's amazing to see the energy they bring every game.
"It's been great for the game and a lot of fun to follow and I think anyone that follows hockey would agree."
Washington head coach Barry Trotz has had the opportunity to see Las Vegas multiple times as a hockey city, first through the NHL Awards show and this season as a visiting team.
"This city, this organization, they have done everything right," Trotz said. "I mean, it's fantastic. It's a vibrant team. It's a good team. It's a vibrant city. It keeps growing.
"But what I love about Vegas, there's no city on planet Earth like Vegas, and they did it Vegas' way."
ADMIRING FLEURY
Washington goaltender Braden Holtby is a few years younger than Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, and because of that Fleury was one goalie he looked up to when forming his game.
Holtby finished the Tampa Bay Lightning with two straight shut outs in the Eastern Conference Final, and has great respect for the man he'll be facing across the ice.
"He's one of those guys," Holtby said. "I've always respected his game, his talent, teammate-wise, and the way he portrays himself.
"It's just fun playing against the best, the guys you really respect. It makes for good hockey."
Holtby took notice of Fleury's season stats and his career best numbers in the playoffs, a shock of sorts when he thought of his Pittsburgh numbers, but quickly came to a goaltender's conclusion.
"He's having success here and he had success in Pittsburgh," Holtby said. "To be honest, from a goaltender's perspective, the numbers have a little bit on the way the teams are playing. Pitt plays a bit more of an open game and Vegas is tighter and they play a defensive game and don't give you much.
"That's why you see the difference in numbers."
Fleury has had success in both the regular season and playoffs against Washington, with a 22-12-2 record against the Capitals and an 8-6 record in the playoffs, both series wins.
Washington forward T.J. Oshie said it's Fleury's competitiveness that keeps him on top of the game as a goalie, but that the Capitals have plenty of players who've seen him over the years.
"He challenges you as a shooter," Oshie said. "He's a tough goaltender to score on and works very hard in net. But the same token, we have some guys here who have played him quite a few times and they found a way to get pucks in.
"Both goaltenders are playing great hockey and it'll be important for us to try and take his eyes away the best we can and get whatever advantage we can."
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has 32 career goals in 52 regular season and playoff games against Fleury, but was held scoreless in the his two matchups against Vegas this year. Despite his all-time great skills as a goal scorer, Ovechkin still has the utmost respect for his old foe.
"He's a great goalie. He knows how to win," he said. "It's always challenging to play against the best."
MISSIN' SCHMIDT… SORT OF
Wilson and Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt came into the NHL around the same time and spent a lot of time together and, according to Wilson, still call each other friends.
So, when asked at Media Day what the Capitals miss about Schmidt, Wilson was comfortable cracking a joke.
"It was a little more quiet in the room," Wilson said.
Other than that, the departure of Schmidt through the NHL Expansion Draft last June hasn't been treated much different than a player leaving through a trade or free agency, Wilson said. While they stayed in touch during the season, chirping has been kept at the minimum through the playoffs, and Wilson said Schmidt knows better.
"I'm not going to pass up any hits on him and he'll play me as hard as he can," Wilson said. "He's a fun guy, he's awesome and we'll leave it at that. He's a professional, a big dog on that team and logging a ton of minutes. He's a big X factor for them and I'm sure we'll go head-to-head at some point and we'll see what happens."