Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

It was a see-saw opening game of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.  It featured some bad ice conditions, questionable officiating, and a lot of goals.  Unfortunately for the Capitals, they fell a little bit short, and were defeated 6-4 in Game 1.  The Capitals have some things to clean up, and they will look to tie the series on Wednesday night.  Puck drop is at 8 PM on NBCSN.

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

The Golden Knights are getting contributions from all over the lineup.  In Game 1, the Golden Knights received 2 goals from Tomas Nosek and 1 goal from Ryan Reaves.  Both players regularly share 4^th line duties for the Golden Knights club.

In addition to the Knights depth players producing, William Karlsson came to the party too.  He recorded his 7^th goal of the postseason.  His linemate Reilly Smith recorded a goal and an assist in Game 1 too.

Marc-Andre Fleury probably did not have one of his sharpest games of the playoffs, but he was good enough to propel the Golden Knights to victory in Game 1.  He made 24 saves in the game.

The Golden Knights outshot the Capitals 34-28 in the game, and the Golden Knights won 52% of their draws against the Capitals.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

The Capitals had a slow start to Game 1, but showed signs of fight as the game progressed.  Unfortunately, their mistakes caught up to them as the game went on, and they were defeated in the game.

The Capitals did not score on their lone powerplay in the game, but they did a good job taking the physical game to the Golden Knights.  They outhit the Golden Knights 38-25 in the game, and edged the Golden Knights out slightly in blocked shots.

Despite playing with injury, Nicklas Backstrom had a good game for the Capitals in Game 1.  Backstrom finished with a goal and an assist in the game.  The Capitals top line with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson finished with 1 goal and 3 points in the game.  Wilson was a physical force in Game 1, as he registered 9 hits in the contest.

Despite the loss, the Capitals have been upbeat in the postseason.  A couple of defensive miscues and missed calls likely decided their fate in Game 1, but this Capitals group should not be phased by these errors.

SHAVINGS

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“You can’t get too fancy with this ice because it’s a little bouncy—and they know that. They feed on it for turnovers.” — Braden Holtby on the #Caps’ need to adapt to the sloppy ice surface in Vegas. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/3kdABGCMvS

— Tarik El-Bashir⌨🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) May 29, 2018

By: George Foussekis