Stanley Cup Final Game 5 Live Blog: Golden Knights vs. Capitals

Welcome to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals.
NHL.com Director of Editorial Shawn P. Roarke has all the sights and sounds from T-Mobile Arena on Thursday where the Capitals won their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history with a 4-3 victory.

After hoisting the Cup, Alex Ovechkin handed off to longtime linemate Nicklas Backstrom.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin
wins Conn Smythe Trophy
; postseason leader with 15 goals in 24 games

11:10 p.m. ET

The Washington Capitals won the 2018 Stanley Cup, the first championship in their history,
defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena
.

Forward Lars Eller completed a third-period comeback when he scored at 12:23, shoveling a loose puck into the net. Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made the initial save on the shot by Brett Connolly, but the puck trickled behind him and Eller won the race to the loose puck, shoveling it into the empty net.

The loss ends a record-breaking inaugural season for the Golden Knights, who set a multitude of regular season records, won the Pacific Division title and then went 12-3 in the playoffs to reach the Final. They swept the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, beat the San Jose Sharks in six games in the second round and ousted the Winnipeg Jets in five games in the Western Conference Final.
But, after winning the first game of the Final, the Golden Knights lost four consecutive games for the first time this season.
Devante Smith-Pelly tied the game at 3-3 when he scored at 9:52, winning another race to a loose puck and kicking it onto his stick and shooting it before Fleury could get to the far post.
Smith-Pelly has seven goals in the postseason after scoring seven in 75 regular-season games.
Jakub Vrana and Alex Ovechkin, on the power play, scored second-period goals for the Capitals.
Vegas forward Reilly Smith had given Vegas a 3-2 lead with 29 seconds left in the second period, capping a three-goal outburst by the home team in the period.
Defenseman Nate Schmidt tied the game at 1-1 and forward David Perron made is 2-2.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby made 28 saves. Fleury, who allowed at least three goals in each game of the Final, had 29 saves.

10:45 p.m. ET

With 10 minutes remaining in the third period, Game 5 is tied 3-3. Forward Devante Smith-Pelly scored for the third straight game with a goal at 9:52.
Defenseman Brooks Orpik made a nice play at the blue line to keep the puck in and flipped an exploratory shot toward the goal. Defenseman Colin Miller knocked the puck out of the air, but it bounced right to Smith Pelly, who beat goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the far post.

Smith-Pelly has seven goals in 24 postseason games. He had seven goals in the regular season.
The Golden Knights had a huge penalty kill earlier in the period when forward Tomas Tatar went to the box for hooking against forward Lars Eller in the defensive zone at 5:37.
Fleury made a huge save on a one-timer from Alex Ovechkin on the power play. Also, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare broke up a point-to-point pass at the blue line and had a partial breakaway that was foiled by the backcheck of Ovechkin.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby made big saves on defenseman Colin Miler and forward Tomas Nosek in the first three minutes of the period.
Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had similarly important saves on forwards Andre Burakovsky, Evgeny Kuznetsov and defenseman Christian Djoos.
The first goal for the Golden Knights, scored at 9:20 of the second period, was changed from Jonathan Marchessault to defenseman Nate Schmidt, who fired the original shot from the point.

10:10 p.m. ET

The Golden Knights lead 3-2 after two periods on a power-play goal by forward Reilly Smith with 31 seconds remaining.
With Alex Ovechkin in the penalty box for tripping, Smith took a pass from Alex Tuch and kicked it off both his skates and onto his stick to fire into the empty net.

It was Smith's fifth goal in 20 postseason games. It is the first lead for Vegas since 17:27 of the first period of Game 2.
Forward David Perron had tied the game at 12:56 when a redirection by Tomas Nosek hit him while he was down in the crease and bounced into the net. Defenseman Colin Miller started the scoring play.
Perron, who had been scratched in Game 4, was jousting with defenseman Christian Djoos for position when he was pushed down into the crease to the side of goalie Braden Holtby.

Nate Schmidt also scored for Vegas, while Jakub Vrana and Ovechkin, on the power play, scored for Washington in a five-goal second period.
The Capitals challenged for goalie interference on the Perron goal,
but the call on the ice was upheld.
The League said: "After reviewing all available replays and consulting with the Referee, the Situation Room confirmed that the actions of Washington's Christian Djoos caused Perron to contact Holtby before the puck crossed the goal line. The decision was made in accordance with Note 2 of Rule 78.7 (ii) which states, in part, that the goal should be allowed because 'the attacking Player was pushed, shoved or fouled by a defending Player causing the attacking Player to come into contact with the goalkeeper.'"
It was Perron's first goal of the postseason. He has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 15 playoff games.

9:45 p.m. ET

With 9:46 remaining in the second period, Washington leads 2-1.
Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play at 11:04 of the second, slamming home a superb cross-ice pass by Nicklas Backstrom.

The goal came while defenseman Brayden McNabb was in the box for tripping Ovechkin 23 seconds earlier. It also came 34 seconds after Vegas had tied it 1-1 on a goal by Jonathan Marchessault.
Washington scored first on a goal by Jakub Vrana, but Marchessault answered for Vegas at 9:40 when a shot by defenseman Nate Schmidt bounced off his skate and past goalie Braden Holtby.

Vrana scored on the counter-attack at 6:24, sprung for a breakaway on a pass by Tom Wilson to relieve some extended zone time by the Golden Knights. It's Vrana's third goal in 23 postseason games. Evgeny Kuznetsov had the secondary assist and now has a playoff-best 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 24 games.

The Vegas Golden Knights missed three straight shots before Vrana scored, including two while defenseman Christian Djoos was serving a high-sticking penalty.
Washington had a power play at the start of the period when Shea Theodore tripped T.J. Oshie behind the Vegas net 21 seconds into the period.

9:00 p.m. ET

The score is 0-0 after one period.
It was a quick and entertaining first period without many whistles and back-and-forth action.
Washington had the first real Grade-A chance of the period while Vegas defenseman Colin Miler was in the box for an interference foul on Michal Kempny at 11:44.
Washington captain Alex Ovechkin received a pass in his spot in the attacking zone just inside the face-off circle. His shot, however, hit the far post and bounded away harmlessly. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury also stopped a shot from defenseman John Carlson from the point.

The Capitals were 3-for-5 on the power play in Game 4, raising their success rate to 29.6% for the postseason (21-for-71). Among teams with at least 60 opportunities, only the 1981 New York Islanders (37.8%, 31-for-82), 1982 Islanders (29.9%, 23-for-77) and 1994 Toronto Maple Leafs (29.7%, 22-for-74) have had better conversion rate since that stat was officially tracked beginning in the 1977-78 season.
The Golden Knights had their best chance during the Washington power play. Tomas Nosek, the hero of Game 1 with two goals, was sprung on a semi-breakaway and goalie Braden Holtby struggled to fight off the wrist shot.
Fleury made 10 saves, Holtby seven.

8:40 p.m. ET

The first 10 minutes of Game 5 were hectic with each team coming out aggressively.
The first four-plus minutes were played without a stoppage with the teams trading chances.
Not only did the Golden Knights make two personnel changes, inserting David Perron and William Carrier into the lineup, they also changed two of their three defensive pairings.
Nate Schmidt was joined by Shea Theodore in an offensive-minded tandem while Deryk Engelland was paired with Brayden McNabb in more a shutdown pair.

After 10 minutes, Washington goaltender Braden Holtby and Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury have three saves each.

8:30 p.m. ET

The pregame performance took an epic turn at T-Mobile Arena with Vegas down 3-1.
The presentation began with references to some of the biggest comebacks in history, including the second-half rally from a 25-point deficit by the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Then the Golden Knight faced five Washington Knights, as he had in the first two games.
This time, however, he was losing the battle, surrounded by the visiting Knights and presumed dead before bouncing back to life as the PA announcer said, "Tonight we are all Knights and tonight we will not fail!"

This time, the final, red-caped knight was felled by a well-placed catapult shot that sent him plummeting through the ice. Then, the Golden Knight called the Golden Knights players onto the ice.

Manon Rheaume, the first female to play in an NHL game in the 1992 preseason with the Tampa Bay Lightning, cranked the siren to start the game. She was joined by Willie O'Ree, who broke the NHL's color barrier in 1958.

8:00 p.m. ET

It may not have been a sea of red for warmups, but it was certainly a lake of red as Capitals fans, in their distinctive red-and-white sweaters, congregated around the glass at the Washington end of the rink.
It is by far the biggest contingent of visiting fans at any of the five games in the Final.
As expected, the Golden Knights have made two changes, reinserting forwards David Perron and William Carrier into the lineup.
Perron took rushes on the third line, skating with Tomas Tarter and Cody Eakins. Perron, who was a healthy scratch for Game 4, has eight assists in 14 postseason games.

Carrier has not played since sustaining an injury (undisclosed) on May 4. He has not scored in nine postseason games but is expected to bring a physical presence and some speed to a fourth line that includes Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Nosek.
Washington made no changes to its lineup.

Vegas has not lost four consecutive games in its 101-game history.

6:30 p.m. ET

The Stanley Cup will be in the building Thursday, on offer to the Capitals if they can find a way to win a fourth consecutive game in the Stanley Cup Final.
Washington leads the best-of-7 series 3-1. This is the first of three opportunities they will have to win their first championship.
Teams leading 3-1 in a best-of-7 Final have a series record of 32-1 and have won 31 straight. The lone exception was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who came back from 3-0 against the Detroit Red Wings.
The Capitals are expected to dress the same lineup they have had in each of the first four games.
Vegas coach Gerard Gallant has hinted at making some lineup changes, but we won't know for sure until warmups. Top-line forward William Karlsson, who didn't practice on Wednesday, participated in the morning skate on Thursday and said he is good to go.
There is a chance forwards Ryan Reaves and Ryan Carpenter could be scratched, replaced by Will Carrier and David Perron, respectively.
Perron was a healthy scratch for Game 4, replaced by Tomas Tatar. Now, he will likely play on the same line as Tatar with Cody Eakin in the middle. Perron has eight assists in 14 postseason games. He will replace Carpenter, who has five assists in 17 postseason games.
Forward William Carrier has not played since sustaining an injury (undisclosed) on May 4. He has not scored in nine postseason games. Reaves has two goals in 10 postseason games.
Despite the fact the Golden Knights are one loss from losing the Final, the atmosphere has been amazing all day, beginning with an optional morning skate at City National Arena that was filled with fans, as it has been throughout the playoffs.
Panic! At the Disco raised the level with a concert in the afternoon, playing on a stage in the middle of the world-famous Fountains at Bellagio on the Strip.
We'll be back after warmups with the official lineups.