Capitals' Cup run defined by 'The Stick' save, 'The Post' miss

LAS VEGAS -- The paddle of a goalie stick.
The width of a goal post.

For Hockey Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman, who won the Stanley Cup a record nine times as a coach and five times as an executive, these are the ingredients that produced the two defining moments that helped the Washington Capitals hoist the Cup on Thursday after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the Final.
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Bowman called it "A Tale of Two Open Nets."
"When you look at those two plays, they could have altered the entire series," Bowman said in a phone interview Friday, less than 24 hours after the Capitals won the Cup for the first time in their 43-season history. "Those will be the plays that we will talk about, the plays we'll all remember."
In Washington, they are being referred to as "The Stick" and "The Post." And with good reason.
"When they talk about 'The Stick,' they're referring to Braden Holtby's save off Alex Tuch in Game 2," Bowman said. "He scores there and the [Golden] Knights might have gone up 2-0 in games."

Having won the opening game in the series 6-4, the Golden Knights were trailing 3-2 late in Game 2 when Tuch found himself alone in front of a seemingly open Capitals net. As he directed the puck towards what appeared would most definitely be the tying goal, Holtby lunged out and made the save with his stick paddle with 1:59 left.
"Thank God he's our goalie," Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said.
Washington coach Barry Trotz said: "To me, it was the hockey gods."
Capitals forward Jay Beagle said: "Maybe the save of a lifetime."
Holtby simply shrugged when asked about the save.
"Luckily, it hit me," the Washington goaltender said.
Whether it was divine intervention or simple luck, Bowman said it changed the momentum of the series.
"You put it in there, you tie the game 3-3, you know anything can happen," Bowman said. "Instead the [Capitals] go home tied in the series 1-1 and feeling good about themselves instead of being two games down."
The Capitals returned to Washington and won 3-1 in Game 3 to go up 2-1 in the best-of-7 series. It was the first home win in the Stanley Cup Final in their history.
Attempting to rediscover their mojo, the Golden Knights came out pressing in Game 4 and had an outstanding opportunity to take the lead early in the first period when forward James Neal received a pass in the left face-off circle with Holtby out of position.

With no goalie in his way, he somehow found a way to clank the puck off the far post at 4:31.
"Honestly, I thought it was in," Holtby said. "Somehow, it didn't go in."
Much to the chagrin of Neal.
"At this stage, at that moment, it changes the game," Neal said afterward.
And, in Bowman's opinion, the entire series.
"That was what they call 'The Post.' Washington dodged one there," Bowman said. "If Neal gets Vegas an early one, they have some traction early. Instead, the Capitals rebound from the slow start, go on to win 6-2, and take a 3-1 lead. At that point, it's tough for a team to come back."
The Golden Knights could not come back and lost 4-3 in Game 5. As the Capitals lifted the Stanley Cup on T-Mobile Arena ice, Tuch, Neal and their Vegas teammates could only dream what might have been if not for a stick and a post.
"To call those the defining moments of the series, that's very accurate," Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. "I think this year, as opposed to other years, we got breaks we didn't before. In previous years, we historically didn't get breaks -- it was always some post, some bounce, some empty net made us lose. But these past four series, I don't know if it's karma, but we finally had things go our way.

"We'll take it."
Capitals defenseman John Carlson said they deserve full credit for the championship, no matter which way the bounces went.
"You've got to work for your breaks," he said. "We just had a feeling this year, and we rode the momentum that we had. We worked for everything we got, and that was kind of our mandate. We stuck to it, and no matter what the score, what the situation, we were going to finish it out."
Bowman enjoys talking about defining moments in the playoffs.
"There's [Toronto] Maple Leafs defenseman Bob Baun scoring on a broken leg in overtime in Game 6 of the 1964 Final against [the] Detroit [Red Wings], forcing a Game 7," Bowman said. "Toronto would end up winning. That was a big one.
"Another one came in Game 3 of the first round in 2002 against Vancouver when I was coaching Detroit. We lost the first two games and were tied in the final minute of the second period when Nicklas Lidstrom scored from center against Dan Cloutier. That gave us a boost, and we won four straight games.
"Those are the types of defining moments that change series. And that's what happened with those two open nets Vegas couldn't take advantage of."