The Washington Capitals are Stanley Cup champions after finishing off the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-3 win in Game 5.
Several players were key to the Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup run, but five in particular stand out for their contributions.
It goes without saying, but the Capitals’ captain has been instrumental to the team’s success since the moment he arrived on the scene. After coming into the postseason with an unfair reputation as a star who underwhelms on the biggest stage, Ovechkin proved his naysayers wrong with a playoff run that featured a league-leading 15 goals, including six on the power play, to earn the Conn Smythe Trophy. It took 13 seasons, but Ovechkin has finally reached the sport’s summit.
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Ovechkin ended up with the Conn Smythe Trophy, but it could have just as easily gone to Kuznetsov, who perfectly complements his captain’s shooting with exceptional vision and playmaking. The 26-year-old Russian forward finished the playoffs with 12 goals and 20 assists for a league-leading 32 points. For comparison, only Evgeni Malkin has more points (36 in 2009) than Kuznetsov in a postseason since the turn of the century. Without his ability to set up teammates, there would be no Cup.
Nicklas Backstrom
It’s been a long wait for the Cup for Backstrom as well, with the Swede having felt the pain of falling short year after year alongside Ovechkin since the two became teammates in 2007. Though he played almost half the playoffs with a hand injury, Backstrom was still effective on the ice, racking up five goals and 18 assists for 23 points. His smooth playmaking was especially lethal on the power play, where he tallied a playoff-high 13 assists.
John Carlson
While Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Backstorm will rightly get much of the attention for the Capitals’ run, Carlson’s significance can’t be overlooked. The defenseman had 12 of his 20 playoff points on the power play, while recording a plus-minus of plus-11, which was second among all players at his position. It’s no coincidence Carlson’s breakout year aligned with Washington lifting the Cup and now, he’ll likely receive a hefty payday in free agency.
Braden Holtby
It wasn’t an easy season for Holtby, who had one of his worst campaigns and was benched for the first two games of the playoffs. But after getting back in net, he looked like the player who finished in the top four in Vezina Trophy voting each of the past three years, posting a goals against average of 2.16 and a save percentage of .922. His awe-inspiring save in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals will go down as one of the iconic plays of the Capitals’ run.