Facts and Figures: Capitals end historic wait for Stanley Cup

* The Washington Capitals ended the second-longest wait for an NHL team before winning its first
Stanley Cup
by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 5 of the Final on Thursday. They won the Cup for the first time in their 43rd season of competition and their 3,701st game (regular-season and playoff) since joining the NHL in 1974-75. The Los Angeles Kings won the Cup for the first time in 2012, their 44th season since entering the League in 1967. It was Washington's first professional sports championship since 1992, when the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl.
* Forward Devante Smith-Pelly, who scored the winning goal in Game 4, tied Game 5 when he scored midway through the third period, giving him goals in three consecutive games -- a first in his NHL career. It was his seventh goal of the playoffs (24 games played), matching his regular-season total (75 GP).

* Center Lars Eller scored his third game-winner of the postseason, the most among all Capitals players. His first came in double overtime in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round after Washington lost the first two games against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He also had the winner in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Eller will become the first player born and trained in Denmark to have his name engraved on the Cup.

* Forward Alex Ovechkin, who led all playoff goal-scorers with 15, is the second player born in Russia to win the
Conn Smythe Trophy
, awarded to the most valuable player in the playoffs. The other was center Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. Two other Conn Smythe Trophy winners were born outside North America: defenseman
Nicklas Lidstrom
(Sweden) in 2002 and Henrik Zetterberg (Sweden) in 2008, each with the Detroit Red Wings.
* Ovechkin is the sixth player in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy,
Hart Trophy
(most valuable player),
Rocket Richard Trophy
(top goal-scorer) and
Art Ross Trophy
(leading scorer) in his League career, joining centers
Jean Beliveau
,
Wayne Gretzky
,
Mario Lemieux
and Sidney Crosby and forward
Guy Lafleur
.
* Ovechkin also is the first Russia-born player to be captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team. He's the third born outside North America, joining Lidstrom in 2008 and defenseman Zdeno Chara (Slovakia) of the 2011 Boston Bruins.
* Ovechkin's 15 playoff goals set a single-year Washington playoff record, surpassing forward John Druce, who had 14 in 1990. Only one NHL player since 1997 has scored as many goals in a single postseason: center
Sidney Crosby
of the Penguins had 15 in 2009 en route to winning the Stanley Cup.

* Ovechkin (607 goals) is the third player in NHL history to score 600 regular-season goals before winning the Stanley Cup. Forward
Luc Robitaille
won the Cup with the Red Wings in 2002 after scoring 620 goals, and forward Dave Andreychuk helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Cup in 2004 after scoring 634 times.
* Center Evgeny Kuznetsov led all scorers in the Stanley Cup Final with eight points (one goal, seven assists) and was the leading scorer in the playoffs with 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 24 games. That's the second-highest total in a single postseason since 1997; Malkin had 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) for the Penguins in 2009. Kuznetsov joined Malkin and center
Sergei Fedorov
(1995 Red Wings) as the only players born in Russia to lead the NHL in playoff scoring.
* John Carlson set a Capitals playoff record for most career points by a defenseman with 55 (18 goals, 37 assists). He led all defensemen in scoring during the postseason with 20 points (five goals, 15 assists). He also led all NHL defensemen in regular-season scoring with 68 points (15 goals, 53 assists).
* The Capitals finished the 2018 playoffs 10-3 on the road, tying the NHL record for most road victories in one playoff year. They matched the 1995 New Jersey Devils (10-1), the 2000 Devils (10-2) and 2012 Kings (10 1), all of whom won the Stanley Cup. The 2004 Calgary Flames (10-4) also won 10 road games but lost to the Lightning in the Final. Washington is the third team to earn all four series-clinching victories on the road, joining the 2008 Red Wings and 2009 Penguins.

* Road teams finished the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 44-40 record (.524), the third-best percentage by visiting clubs in the 50 seasons of the expansion era (1968-2018). The only seasons with a better win percentage by road teams were 2012 (.547, 47-39) and 1987 (.529, 46-41).
* Washington joined the 1991 Penguins as the only teams in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup despite trailing in all four playoff rounds. The Capitals are the seventh team to win the Cup despite losing its first two games of the postseason; Washington lost Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
* The Capitals are the first team since the 2002 Red Wings to win four straight games in the Final. Washington won four in a row after losing the opener against Vegas; Detroit did the same against the Carolina Hurricanes 16 years ago. Vegas lost four consecutive games for the first time in 102 games (regular season and playoffs) in its inaugural season.
* The Capitals went 1-for-4 on the power play in Game 5 and finished the 2018 playoffs 22-for-75 (29.3 percent). Among playoff teams with at least 60 opportunities, the only ones to finish with a better power-play percentage since the NHL began tracking that statistic in 1977-78 were the 1981 New York Islanders (37.8 percent; 31-for-82), the 1982 Islanders (29.9 percent; 23-for-77) and the 1994 Toronto Maple Leafs (29.7 percent; 22-for-74).
* Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith had a goal and an assist in Game 5, and set an NHL record for most points by a player in his team's first playoff season. He finished with 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 20 games. The line of Smith, Jonathan Marchessault with 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) and William Karlsson with 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) combined for 58 points (20 goals, 38 assists) and five game-winning goals in Vegas' initial postseason.