Stanley Cup Final: Caps tie series with 3-2 win
Alex Ovechkin scored his first career Stanley Cup Final goal and goaltender Braden Holtby made 37 saves, as the Washington Capitals pulled even with the Vegas Golden Knights to tie the series at 1 win each.
It was only the Golden Knights’ second home loss of the season.
Holtby preserved the win, stopping Alex Tuch with s stick save with just 1:59 left.
Washington's first-line forward Evgeny Kuznetsov left the game after a hard hit in the first period.
Capitals coach Barry Trotz added Nicklas Backstrom to his top line with Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. And 5:38 into the second period, with the game tied at 1-all and the Capitals on a power play, Ovechkin scored to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead.
A little less than four minutes after Ovechkin scored, Brooks Orpik scored the eventual game winner.
The Capitals joined the NHL in 1974 and have only advanced to the Stanley Cup final once and lost 20 years ago.
This is the Golden Knights’ inaugural season and were 500-1 odds to win at the start of the season.
The series shifts to Washington for game 3 on Saturday, where they have just a 4-5 record in the postseason.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.