The Washington Capitals, After Years of Frustration, Win the Stanley Cup (Published 2018)

LAS VEGAS — Across their 43 seasons, the Washington Capitals dabbled in hapless hockey and exquisite hockey, boring hockey and effective hockey, but never had they played winning hockey through four playoff rounds, all the way to a grueling, glorious end.

It took a team hardened by postseason failures but liberated from high expectations to complete a run as dazzling as it was cathartic, capping it on Thursday night by dispatching the upstart Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3, to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

It was the Capitals’ fourth consecutive victory in the finals after a disorienting 6-4 loss in the opener that made little sense in the context of how they played immediately before and afterward. After twice shutting out the offensive powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning to advance to its first Cup finals since 1998, Washington outscored the Golden Knights across these last four games by 16-8.

Lars Eller scored the winning goal with 7 minutes 27 seconds remaining, jamming in a loose puck that had slid through Marc-Andre Fleury’s pads and rested at the top of the crease behind him. The Capitals’ bench erupted, and Eller hopped away as if dancing.

The party started in earnest when the buzzer sounded and the Capitals’ bench emptied and swarmed goalie Braden Holtby, who provided the iconic moment of the finals late in Game 2 here, when he lunged across the crease to stop an unstoppable puck and preserve a one-goal lead. Alex Ovechkin zipped onto the ice, his helmet off and his hands on his head, no longer labeled the best player to have never won a championship.