Stanley Cup Final Game 1 Live Blog: Golden Knights vs. Capitals

Welcome to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals.
NHL.com Director of Editorial Shawn P. Roarke was inside T-Mobile Arena to witness the Golden Knights earn a 6-4 victory in a back-and-forth affair.

11:07 p.m. ET

The Vegas Golden Knights take Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, winning a wild 6-4 affair against the Washington Capitals at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.
Tomas Nosek scored the game-winning goal at 9:44 of the third period, converting a beautiful pass from defenseman Shea Theodore. Nosek, who had one goal this postseason, added an empty-net goal at 19:57 after blocking a point shot From Alex Ovechkin.
Game 2 is here on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS).

Eight of the nine goals scored in the game were at even strength.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves to win his fifth straight game. He last allowed four goals in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Winnipeg Jets.

Washington goalie Braden Holtby allowed five goals on 33 shots. The five goals are the most he has allowed this postseason.

10:55 p.m. ET

What a finish we are looking at here.
With 10:16 remaining in the third period of Game 1, the Vegas Golden Knights lead the Washington Capitals, 5-4.
Vegas forward Tomas Nosek scored at 9:44 of the third, one-timing home a beautiful pass from defenseman Shea Theodore.

Forward Tom Wilson had given Washington its second lead of the game when he scored 1:10 into the period, his shot somehow trickling through the legs of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and into the net for a 4-3 lead. Alex Ovechkin had the primary assist on the goal, his first point of the Final and 23rd of the postseason.

It is the fourth time this postseason that Fleury has allowed four or more goals, but he had allowed a total of six goals in his past four outings, all victories.
Vegas forward Ryan Reaves answered 1:38 later with an unassisted goal. He knocked defenseman down John Carlson in the slot, got the loose puck and fired it past Braden Holtby to cap a good forechecking shift by the fourth line of the Golden Knights.

Reaves has goals in back-to-back games. He scored the game-winning goal in the Game 5 victory against the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference Final eight days ago. He had not scored in his other five appearances this postseason.
Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault left the game at 5:53 of the third period after a hit from Wilson at center ice. Wilson received a two-minute penalty for interference.

10:10 p.m. ET

The second period looked a lot like the first period and, as a result, we are tied 3-3.
The Golden Knights dominated early, like they did in the first period. Their dominance paid off when Reilly Smith slammed home a pretty pass from defenseman Deryk Engelland from behind the net at 3:21.

Jonathan Marchessault had the secondary assist on Smith's goal and has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists), the most scored by a player in his team's first playoff appearance.
Capitals defenseman John Carlson answered, however, at 8:29, shooting home a beautiful no-look pass by T.J. Oshie to tie it.

Carlson has 17 career playoff goals, the most by a defenseman in Capitals history. He passed Kevin Hatcher, who had 16.
Marc-Andre Fleury has 15 saves. Braden Holtby has 21.

9:09 p.m. ET

What a wild first period of Game 1. The Golden Knights and the Capitals are tied at 2-2.

Washington picked itself up off the mat after Colin Miller gave Vegas a 1-0 lead by scoring goals 42 seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead.
Brett Connolly scored on a perfect redirection of a Michal Kempny shot from the point at 14:41.

It was Connolly's fifth goal of the postseason and the first time in these playoffs that Vegas allowed an opponent a goal in the first period.
Forty-two seconds later center Nicklas Backstrom scored to give the Capitals the lead.

But William Karlsson ended a Vegas flurry by stuffing a loose puck inside the short-side post before a scrambling Holtby could get there at 18:19. Karlsson has seven postseason goals, one behind Jonathan Marchessault for the team lead.

Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made eight saves; Holtby made nine.

8:45 p.m. ET

It's a dream start for the Golden Knights.
After dominating the first seven minutes of the game, Vegas scored the first goal of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, a power-play score from defenseman Colin Miller, whose slap shot from the right point found its way through traffic and past goaltender Braden Holtby at 7:15. Forward Erik Haula had the assist.

Washington forward Andre Burakovsky was in the penalty box for boarding.
The Golden Knights, behind a revved-up crowd, came out flying, firing off the first five shots.
Ryan Carpenter had the first shot of the game and then started a bit of a scrum by charging hard to the net.
Washington got its first shot, and the only one through the first 10 minutes, when Brett Connolly fired a wrist shot from the slot off the mask of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 5:38.

8:30 p.m. ET

What an opening to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
The Vegas Golden Knights took their pre-game ceremony to a new level, clearing a bar that had been set higher in each of the previous three rounds.
Monday, the show featured five villains, including one who descended from the rafters against the solitary Golden Knight and plenty of pyrotechnics.
There were flaming arrows fired from The Fortress onto the ice, a flaming catapult and the iconic sword battle at center ice to end the show. No surprise, the Golden Knight won.

Then Carnell Johnson sang "The Star-Spangled Banner," followed by Michael Buffer announcing the starting lineups in the same manner he has announced countless boxing title matches in this city, telling the crowd, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!"
When he was finished, Buffer asked the crowd, "Now, tell me what time is it?" The crowd roared, "It's Knight Time!"

Now, it is on to Game 1 between the Golden Knights and Capitals.
It should be a night to remember.

6:30 p.m. ET

We are close to 90 minutes from puck drop and the party is in full force in Toshiba Plaza outside T-Mobile Arena. Lil Jon, who has served as hype man for the Golden Knights this season, is playing a free concert on the plaza in front of packed house of fans geared up for the first Stanley Cup Final game in Las Vegas.

In addition to the concert, about 30 fans were lined up for a free Golden Knights tattoo. There were airbrush artists, face and hair painters, corn toss, plenty of cold beverages, homemade Stanley Cups, Golden Knights jerseys and even a few Capitals jerseys.

It's an amazing scene, but not surprising. The whole town is Golden Knights crazy with T-shirts, jerseys and signs of support spotted around town all weekend.