WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest from Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights (all times
local):9:40 p.m.The Washington Capitals got three goals in the first period of
Game 4 and are spending much of the second period making sure the lead stands up
against the Vegas Golden Knights.Striving to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7
Stanley Cup Final
Filip Forsberg Jersey , the Capitals have killed a pair of power plays to maintain a three-goal cushion.Vegas has a 20-13 advantage in shots on goal, but
Washington has goals from T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly.The
Capitals have not trailed at any point since their Game 1 loss.—9:30 p.m.High
schooler Jack Merritt threw a crab on the ice after Game 3 of the Stanley Cup
Final and hopes it becomes a Washington Capitals tradition.The 15-year-old from
Chevy Chase, Maryland, said before Game 4 that a crab is better than the
”stupid” plastic flamingo thrown onto the ice to celebrate Vegas Golden Knights
wins. He knows all about the plastic rats in Florida, the octopi in Detroit and
the catfish in Nashville. He wants crabs to be a thing at Capital One Arena
after Washington victories.Merritt bought a crab from a local restaurant before
Game 3 and brought it into the arena with hope. He got down to the lower bowl
from his upper-deck seats and managed to get the crab on the ice after the
Capitals beat the Golden Knights 3-1 to take a 2-1 series lead.Without tickets
to Game 4, Merritt only hopes someone else follows his lead.—9:10 p.m.Capitals
fans had plenty to cheer about during the first period of Game 4 of the Stanley
Cup Final after goals by T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly.They
also got to cheer during a TV timeout.Two months after the Humboldt Broncos’ bus
crash killed 16 in Canada, forward Kaleb Dahlgren from the Saskatchewan junior
league was shown on video screens at Capital One Arena.Dahlgren got a nice
reaction from the crowd and then a roar when he lifted up his yellow Humboldt
jersey to reveal a red Capitals jersey.—9 p.m.The Washington Capitals have taken
a 3-0 lead into the first intermission of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final
against the Vegas Golden Knights.Washington is looking to take a 3-1 advantage
in the best-of-7 series.Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly both scored in the
final four minutes of the period after T.J. Oshie put the Capitals on top with a
power-play goal 9:56 into the game.Wilson is known for hard checks and time
spent in the penalty box, but on this occasion he beat Vegas goaltender
Marc-Andre Fleury with a shot from the slot at 3:58. Not long after that,
Smith-Pelly scored from a tough angle on the left side after a weird
bounce.Earlier
Juuse Saros Jersey , with the game scoreless and the Golden Knights on the power play, Vegas winger James Neal hit the post in front of an open
net.—8:35 p.m.T.J. Oshie has given Washington an early 1-0 lead over Vegas in
Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.Evgeny Kuznetsov’s shot off Vegas goaltender
Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded to Oshie in front of the net and he jammed it home
on the power play 9:54 into the first period.The Golden Knights look much
quicker on offense than in Game 3, when they took only 22 shots. James Neal
missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring, hitting the right post when
firing at an open net.It is the third straight game the Capitals have scored
first and they have won the last two for a 2-1 series lead.—8:20 p.m.The puck
has dropped, and Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final is under way in the nation’s
capital with Vegas trying to even the series against Washington at 2-2.The
Golden Knights are starting Tomas Tatar in place of David Perron, who was
scratched. Perron has not scored a goal in 14 playoff games.The atmosphere was
electric before the game. Max Scherzer and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington
Nationals baseball team were introduced as the ”Fans of the Game.” Nationals
slugger Bryce Harper, who grew up in Las Vegas, was wearing a white Golden
Knights Jersey.The fans waved white glow sticks and waved towels before the
national anthem.Game 5 is Thursday in Las Vegas.—6:25 p.m.Red-clad fans are
filling the streets of Chinatown before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between
the Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights.Fall Out Boy is playing the
pregame concert at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, two days after
Sting and Shaggy. The strains of ”My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark” could
be heard blocks away over the sound of scalpers looking for hard-to-find
tickets.According to Ticket IQ, the cheapest Game 4 tickets are up almost $400
from last week. The cheapest tickets available on Ticket IQ and StubHub are more
than $1,000 each.—4:40 p.m.The Vegas Golden Knights are making at least one
lineup change for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final by plugging in
offensive-minded winger Tomas Tatar.Vegas has scored three goals against the
Washington Capitals in the past two games and fallen behind 2-1 in a series for
the first time in the playoffs. Coach Gerard Gallant says he hopes Tatar adds
some offense and speed to a group that lacked both in a Game 3 loss
Saturday.Tatar has not played since Game 3 of the Western Conference final
against Winnipeg. It looked as if Tatar would replace struggling winger David
Perron in Game 4
Kyle Turris Jersey , though Gallant on Monday refused to confirm that scratch and alluded to at least one other possible move.The Golden Knights
traded a 2018 first-, 2019 second- and 2021 third-round pick to Detroit for
Tatar at the deadline. He has dressed in just six of 19 playoff games, scoring
one goal.Tatar did score the most goals against the Capitals this season: four
in two games with the Red Wings, including an overtime winner.—More Stanley Cup
coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals WASHINGTON (AP) The Stanley
Cup Final is a block party for the Washington Capitals.For all of Evgeny
Kuznetsov’s points on offense and Braden Holtby’s saves in net, the Capitals are
one win away from blocking their way to the Cup. They’ve gotten in front of
almost a third of the Vegas Golden Knights’ shots, blocking with enough smarts
and precision to take a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 Thursday.”There’s more to
blocking shots than just going out there and trying to get hit,” Holtby said.
”We’re doing a great job of creating the right layers, guys going out there
strategically to know which lane I’m picking for sight lines and they’re taking
away the other half and making big blocks.”Washington is blocking in quantity
and quality in the final, 86 total, in limiting Vegas to 124 shots on Holtby –
many of which he’s seeing and stopping . Even star captain Alex Ovechkin is
blocking shots as he gets closer to tasting his first championship.”You see `O’
jumping in front of shots, it makes everyone on the team want to do the
same
Youth Matt Irwin Jersey ,” winger Devante Smith-Pelly said.Blocking shots is a team-wide commitment right now and comes from a season’s worth of skaters,
goaltending coach Scott Murray, Holtby and Philipp Grubauer getting on the same
page. The goalies have worked on making sure they can see past blocks to give
players the confidence to get in front of pucks.And in return, Capitals players
study opponents’ tendencies and consciously decide when to try to block a shot
and not so Holtby isn’t at a disadvantage.”You obviously don’t want to cross in
front of him,” center Jay Beagle said. ”You don’t want to become a screen. So if
you miss the block, which happens, guys are good at shooting pucks and stuff,
you want it still so from your standpoint you didn’t hinder Holts’
view.”Defensemen have an understanding of which half of the net is their
responsibility and which half is Holtby’s. Forwards closer to the blue line have
to react quickly, take the right angle and get to the shooter.”If guys have time
and space, they’re going to be able to sift one through,” Smith-Pelly said. ”For
the forwards
Womens Mattias Ekholm Jersey , it’s just going out there pretty hard and just getting in the way.”The amount of shots the Capitals have blocked through
four games seems to be getting in the Golden Knights’ heads. They’re struggling
to get quality shots through and resorting to settling for lower-danger scoring
chances.”If you’re going to take shots, make sure they pay a price for blocking
those shots,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. ”Shoot it harder.”Capitals coach
Barry Trotz doesn’t want his players thinking too much about blocking shots or
hesitating. He doesn’t care much about Ovechkin’s blocking form or the
philosophy of shot-blocking as long as it keeps the puck out of the net.”If
you’re positionally sound, if you’re in shot lanes, block the shot,” Trotz said.
”It’s all about will.”And that will can turn into skill. Washington has been
comfortable and confident enough in the final to push the puck up ice quickly,
and a well-timed block shot can set the table for an odd-man rush.”The less
shots they have, the more opportunities we’re gonna have in offensive zone,”
defenseman Dmitry Orlov said. ”Sometimes when you block it, you get quicker pass
and you jump on the rush and you got 3-on-2 or 4-on-3.”The Golden Knights by
this point are well-aware of that. But they don’t really have a solution.”You
just have to – I don’t know – defensemen, puck fake
P.K Subban Jersey , maybe move around, or maybe look for a guy off to the side, or put it off the end wall,” forward Alex Tuch said. ”There are a
bunch of different plays that could happen and when they’re blocking shots
they’re getting momentum from it, and if they’re blocking shots and having
odd-man rushes that’s even worse. ”In addition to a suffocating neutral-zone
trap that’s not easy to play but has frustrated opponents for four rounds, the
Capitals have embraced a shot-blocking-when-it-matters mentality.”It’s not
exactly fun, but you got to do if you really want to win,” Smith-Pelly said.
”Everyone is on board with doing those things.”—More Stanley Cup coverage:
https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals—
