Morning Playoff Notes (May 31)

By the score line alone, you can tell that both the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights were looking to tighten things up and special teams did play a huge role in Game 2, but possibly none bigger than the Capitals penalty kill in the 3rd period.

With Washington up 3-2 in the final frame, their penalty kill was put under duress, with both Tom Wilson and Lars Eller in the box, giving the Golden Knights a two man advantage, which was killed magnificently, with Braden Holtby standing tall and leading the troops.

Holtby had to be great in Game 2 and he was, making 37 saves for the eventual victory, including a 10-bell save with less than three minutes to go, keeping the Golden Knights at bay in their own barn.  The 3-2 score stood up to be the final and this series now heads back to Washington for the weekend, tied at 1-1.

Brooks Orpik was credited with the eventual winning goal, scored in the 2nd period, giving him a 2-point night, while Lars Eller had himself another great night, picking up a goal and 2 assists, while Andre Burakovsky also had a pair of assists to be notable in this game.

Injury news in this one, as the Capitals lost the services of one of their top scoring forwards early on, as Evgeny Kuznetsov left in the 1st period with an upper-body injury, after taking a big hit from Brayden McNabb.  There was no update on his condition after the game, but we're keeping a close eye on this one.

Brenda's team continues to lead in the Cup Finals with 13 points through two games, with big props going to the Orpik winner in this one, giving her team another bonus point and her team is now 2 points out of 2nd place, not that it would do her much good in the end.  The pool isn't paying for 2nd place.

Tony's team is holding steady in 1st place, as it gave up those early points gained in Game 1, but still holds a 20-point advantage over Neil's side.