Friday Four: Capitals deserve Stanley Cup

Each Friday throughout the NHL season, Kevin Weekes will bring you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays or trends that have caught his eye.

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Capitals series coverage | Capitals Championship Gear]

Alex Ovechkin

For the Washington Capitals, it all starts with the captain, who waited 13 seasons for this moment.
Ovechkin scored a power-play goal in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, a series-clinching 4-3 win. He finished the playoffs with 15 goals, the most ever by a Capitals player in a single postseason and the most by any player in one postseason since Sidney Crosby had 15 for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. Ovechkin had 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists) in 24 games. He also sacrificed his body, blocked shots and did whatever it took to win.
Now he's a Conn Smythe Trophy winner and a Stanley Cup champion -- two things no one can ever take away from him. Ovechkin already was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players and was a lock to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame when he's eligible. Now he won't have that asterisk next to his name as the greatest player not to win the Cup.

Stars were stars for Capitals

Goaltender Braden Holtby, center Nicklas Backstrom and center Evgeny Kuznetsov did everything the Capitals could have asked and more during the playoffs.
Holtby wasn't even the starter when the postseason began; Philipp Grubauer got the call in Games 1 and 2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference First Round. But after the Capitals went down 0-2 in the series, Holtby started Game 3 and never looked back. He went 16-7 and finished with a 2.16 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and two shutouts. And we can't forget what might have been a series-changing save late in Game 2 of the Final that helped Washington tie the series.
Backstrom was Backstrom. Despite missing four games and playing with an injured (and likely broken) hand, he had 23 points (five goals, 18 assists) in 20 games, including several key assists on Ovechkin's goals. It was nice to see Ovechkin hand the Cup off to him first; Backstrom has been responsible for setting up many of his goals throughout the past decade.
Kuznetsov's career season (83 points in 79 games) carried over into the playoffs: He had 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 24 games to lead all scorers. One of his two game-winning goals came in overtime of Game 6 in the second round against the Penguins, putting the Capitals into the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in 20 years. Kuznetsov easily could have won the Conn Smythe, and he showed the Capitals how valuable he is to them.

Supporting cast steps up

Let's not forget the contributions from forwards Devante Smith-Pelly, Lars Eller, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson.
Smith-Pelly was an absolute beast in the Final. He had a goal in each of the final three games, and all three were timely, including his tying goal in the third period of Game 5. Smith-Pelly had seven goals in 24 playoff games, the same number he scored in 75 regular-season games.
Eller, usually a third-line center, finished with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in the playoffs, which ranked sixth on the Capitals. He led Washington with three game-winning goals, including the one that won the Cup.
Oshie had 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists), including 11 on the power play, and scored two game-winners. Wilson was a physical presence throughout the postseason and contributed offensively with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists).

Golden Knights

They had a heck of an inaugural season and came up three wins short of a championship. But no one, and I mean no one, thought the Golden Knights would be one of the last two teams standing.
After a come-from-behind win in Game 1 of the Final, Vegas was outplayed by Washington and lost the next four games. It was the first time all season the Golden Knights lost four straight games. But the future in Vegas is definitely bright. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was amazing throughout the playoffs. So was the top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. Almost everyone on the team had career years, and most are likely to be back next season. Forwards James Neal, David Perron and Ryan Reaves, and defenseman Luca Sbisa are the notable unrestricted free agents. There are several players who could become restricted free agents, but Vegas has the cap space, and you can bet the Golden Knights will want to keep the team together.
Although the loss to the Capitals stings now, their success has made them a premier destination for free agents, and I bet we see some big names heading to Vegas come July 1. This may have been the first time the Golden Knights made the Final, but it sure won't be the last.

HONORABLE MENTION

I have to give credit and congratulations to Capitals coach Barry Trotz. He was under enormous pressure, especially after Washington won the Presidents' Trophy in each of the past two seasons but didn't get past the second round. They weren't expected to win the division this season, but they did. They weren't expected to win the Cup, but they did. His contract is up July 1 and he could go elsewhere after winning the Stanley Cup, but if he wants to remain in Washington, Trotz should be given a blank check.