In order to make it to the Stanley Cup Final, a team's top players need to be its best players when things matter most. That's certainly been true for the Vegas Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals.

William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith were sensational for the Golden Knights in the regular season, and haven't slowed in the playoffs. The same can be said for the Capitals' line of Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin, and Tom Wilson. Both lines have carried a heavy load for their respective teams in the postseason so far.

Marchessault, Smith, and Karlsson are first, second, and third on Vegas in playoff points, and the only three Golden Knights with double-digit points.

Meanwhile, Kuznetsov and Ovechkin are first and second in playoff points league-wide, while Wilson has 11 points despite serving a three-game suspension.

Both lines have proven crucial to the success of their teams, but what's really fascinating is the contrast between their styles of play.

Golden Knights

Karlsson, Marchessault, and Smith could be the quickest line in the NHL. Beyond pure speed, they all have outstanding agility, and are quick to pounce on loose pucks and apply pressure to opposing puck carriers. These three epitomize Vegas' team slogan of "play fast."

While their offensive creativity is well-known, this line doesn't get enough credit on the defensive side of the puck. Karlsson, Marchessault, and Smith finished first, third, and sixth, respectively, on the team in takeaways in the regular season, even though the latter missed 15 games. They're great at turning defense into offense, as evidenced here (with the help of a bad change).

Nobody on this line was a household name heading into the season, but it's no fluke that they're all simultaneously enjoying career years. They played together virtually all season long, building outstanding chemistry - making three players with speed, skill, creativity, and high motors even more dangerous.

Capitals

The Capitals have a more traditional top line in the sense of a playmaker in the middle (Kuznetsov), a sniper on one wing (Ovechkin), and a hulking power forward on the other (Wilson). What sets them apart is the fact they all play their roles to perfection.

Kuznetsov loves having the puck on his stick and is great at carrying the play from his own zone into the attacking end. He has slick hands and great vision, and he's very smart.

Ovechkin's famous shot is arguably the best of all time, and he can unleash a rocket from anywhere, as seen below.

Lastly, Wilson may be the most feared hitter in the game. Sometimes he goes over the top and takes penalties, but that type of recklessness strikes fear into the opposition. He and Ovechkin - no slouch physically either - have been human wrecking balls this postseason, ranking first and second in hits.

Having two of the most gifted offensive players in the game (Kuznetsov, Ovechkin) on a line that also boasts two of the most physical (Ovechkin, Wilson) makes the unit an absolute nightmare to defend.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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The Edmonton Oilers have added to their coaching staff by hiring Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney, and Manny Viveiros as assistant coaches, the team announced Friday.

Gulutzan spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the Calgary Flames, leading them to a playoff berth in 2016-17. He previously worked as an assistant with the Vancouver Canucks for three years, and was head coach of the Dallas Stars for two seasons, missing the playoffs in both years.

Yawney played 593 NHL games as a defenseman with the Chicago Blackhawks, Flames, and St. Louis Blues. He became head coach of the Blackhawks in 2005-06, but was let go midway through the following season. He's spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks.

Viveiros had a cup of coffee in the NHL, skating in 29 games with the Minnesota North Stars in the '80s. He led the Swift Current Broncos to a WHL championship as the club's head coach this spring.

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The Vancouver Canucks signed forward Elias Pettersson to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Friday.

Pettersson is coming off a stellar first season in the SHL where he paced the league in both regular-season and playoff scoring with 56 and 19 points respectively, each standing as new SHL records by a U20 player.

"Elias is a talented offensive player with tremendous vision and skill," general manager Jim Benning said in a release. "Like most Canucks fans we watched with excitement the incredible season he had in Sweden. This is an important offseason of training and development for Elias and we expect him to be ready to challenge for a roster spot in training camp."

His impeccable season earned him a boatload of hardware. Pettersson captured the SHL championship, was named Rookie of the Year and Best Forward, and earned MVP honors for both the regular season and playoffs.

Pettersson was selected fifth overall in last year's draft.

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All season long, the Vegas Golden Knights have been earning a reputation as the hardest-working group in the NHL, winning contest after contest with their relentless speed and commitment to playing a responsible 200-foot game.

After smashing all expectations and rewriting the history books, the expansion club finds itself staring down the Washington Capitals for the 2018 Stanley Cup title.

However, getting past a Capitals group led by a ravenous Alex Ovechkin and reinvigorated Braden Holtby won't be an easy task. If the Knights are to complete the storybook season and hoist Lord Stanley, these three factors will be paramount:

Defend home ice

Flu or not, beating the Knights in Sin City isn't easy. Vegas owned one of the best home records in the league during the regular season, winning 29 games at T-Mobile Arena.

Winning on home ice against Washington will be even more crucial, because the Capitals have been absolute warriors on the road this postseason, posting an impressive 8-2 record, conceding just 20 goals in 10 away games, and clinching all three road series.

The raucous home crowd off which Vegas has been feeding all year has been an underrated factor in the team's success, and playing inside a building that rowdy on a stage this big is bound to have implications on the series' outcome.

If the Knights can overcome Washington's road superiority to hold serve at home, this series might be a lot shorter than people expect.

Rattle Holtby's cage early

Look, you don't need to be rocking rings like Scotty Bowman to know a hot goalie can steal any series, so saying the Knights need to get to Holtby is a bit obvious.

But, since being benched in favor of backup netminder Philipp Grubauer in the first two games of the playoffs, Holtby has been living up to his "Holtbeast" reputation, putting up a 12-6 record to go along with a sparkling .924 save percentage and two shutouts. Getting him out of his rhythm will be paramount for the Knights.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

A potentially clutch factor for Vegas would be getting the first goal, as Washington has opened the scoring in 10 of their 12 wins this postseason.

Whichever way you slice it, Holtby is starting to get locked in, as proven by his shutting out of one of the most potent offensive groups in the Tampa Bay Lightning over the last two games, so getting him off his game early will be paramount for the Knights' success.

Shut down Capitals' power play

Washington's ability to convert on power-play chances has been pivotal to reaching its second Cup final in franchise history. The Caps own the second-deadliest power play of the entire postseason while scoring on the man advantage at an impressive 28.8-percent clip. Bucking that trend will be crucial for the Knights.

Furthermore, Washington's 17 PP goals account for over 25 percent of its total tally, so the Knights have their work cut out.

Washington's top unit of John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, Evegny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, and Ovechkin are a handful for the most astute group of penalty killers. But, luckily for Vegas, head coach Gerard Gallant deploys one of the stingiest PK units in the league.

And, while the Capitals can score on special teams, the Knights are equally up to the task of keeping pucks out of their net on the PK, killing off 82.5 percent of penalties incurred in these playoffs.

Simply put, both teams can bring it on special teams, so don't be surprised if this series is decided on the man advantage.

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Well, here we are: days away from a scenario that sounds too unbelievable to be real. Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will take the ice in a Stanley Cup Final game, and that game - and potentially three more - will be hosted by Las freakin' Vegas.

This year's playoff finale, while completely unexpected, sets up to be a memorable one.

In one corner, a misfit team of destiny, hell-bent on proving droves of naysayers wrong. In the other, a veteran roster that has finally reached the mountaintop in a year when expectations were lower than in years past.

Here are three things those veteran Capitals need to do to thwart the Golden Knights and win their first Stanley Cup.

Split in Vegas

With the luxury of home-ice advantage in the hands of the Golden Knights, it's imperative the Capitals win at least one of the first two games at T-Mobile Arena.

Of course, Washington would love to win both, as it did in Tampa Bay, but Vegas was 29-10-2 at home in its inaugural campaign and has followed that up with a 6-1 playoff record in Sin City, so the Caps winning on the road is much easier said than done.

The good news for the Capitals is they're 8-2 on the road in the postseason and are scoring 3.6 goals per game in those contests. That trend will need to continue if they hope to hit the jackpot in Vegas.

Exploit Vegas' roster for what it is

The mighty Golden Knights were simply too good for the playoff-tested Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, and took care of the league's second-best team, the Winnipeg Jets, in a tidy five-game series. So how can their roster still leave so much to be desired?

The top-line trio of William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, and Jonathan Marchessault has been one of the best in hockey since the season started, and is the driving force behind Vegas reaching this point. But how much of an advantage do they have over the Capitals' top unit?

It's a fairly even fight, so if the Caps' top line can neutralize the Golden Knights', the focus shifts to the depth of both teams, in which Washington should hold a considerable advantage.

With Nicklas Backstrom (fully healthy or not) and the surprising Lars Eller anchoring lines two and three, Washington wins the battle down the middle of the ice and needs to utilize its advantage. The Caps have done just that through three rounds, as forwards outside the top line have combined for 74 points.

For Vegas, numbers quite clearly don't tell the entire story. The Golden Knights reached this point by playing in a relentless up-tempo style and making the most of their offensive opportunities. It remains to be seen whether they can maintain such efficiency under the NHL's brightest lights.

Win the goaltending battle

Remember when Philipp Grubauer started the playoffs between the pipes for the Capitals? That now feels like forever ago.

Since taking over the crease in a rescue effort, Braden Holtby has effectively erased what was an uncharacteristically poor season, posting a .924 save percentage across 17 starts, and cementing a berth in the Stanley Cup Final with back-to-back shutouts over the Lightning with his team on the brink of elimination.

Holtby will need to continue that stellar play, as his competition on the other end of the ice, a familiar adversary in Marc-Andre Fleury, has been lights out since the playoffs kicked off. An overwhelming favorite to capture the Conn Smythe, Fleury has gone 12-3 with an absurd .947 save percentage despite Vegas surrendering nearly 34 shots per game.

Above all else, the Capitals, who lead the postseason with 66 goals, need to find a way to knock Fleury off his game the way the Kings, Sharks, and Jets failed to do, and hope Holtby can out-duel him along the way. At this point, it seems a near-impossible task, but if they can find an answer, they just might be Stanley Cup champions.

(Stats Courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)
(Photos Courtesy: Getty Images)

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Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee should be an awfully proud man.

Not only is McPhee primed to win GM of the year - and go down in history - for being the architect of the best expansion team in any sport, but he's also largely responsible for constructing the roster that will take the visitors' side of the rink at T-Mobile Arena on Monday night.

McPhee was GM of the Washington Capitals from 1997-98 until the 2013-14 campaign. He built a perennial regular-season juggernaut in D.C., but postseason failures, missing the playoffs in his final year, and the horrendous Filip Forsberg-for-Martin Erat trade ultimately led to his demise.

However, he acquired the majority of the Capitals team in place today, mostly through the draft.

McPhee's ability to hit on first-round picks is uncanny. While nearly any GM can make a good selection in the top five, he's made shrewd picks in the latter half of the first round, which is what makes or breaks an organization.

As an encore, McPhee's found legitimate NHLers beyond the first round too. In the salary-cap era, having cheap, homegrown players to surround your core is crucial for building a winning team.

Current Capitals GM Brian MacLellan deserves a large amount of credit, too. While McPhee was in charge, MacLellan was his right-hand man, serving as a pro scout, then director of player personnel, then as assistant GM for seven seasons before taking the reins when the team didn't renew McPhee's contract.

The two combined to build a perennial powerhouse in Washington. McPhee appears well on his way to doing so again in Vegas, and now the former coworkers will meet in the Stanley Cup Final.

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A town in Virginia is hoping to temporarily change its name to celebrate the Washington Capitals advancing to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 20 years.

Lovettsville mayor Bob Zoldos announced earlier this month he would seek town council's approval to rename the town "Capitalsville" if Washington secured a Stanley Cup berth, according to Patrick Szabo of Loudoun Now. If approved, the new name will remain in effect throughout the Capitals' series against the Vegas Golden Knights and for at least a week afterward if they win the trophy.

The Capitals like the idea, too. Zoldos said team officials are "very excited" about it and that the franchise will have final say in the name. He also wants to host a viewing party with Capitals staff and a small parade if the team wins the Cup.

"That would be just unbelievable," Zoldos said.

- With h/t to Sporting News

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With the Stanley Cup Final now on the horizon, theScore's Josh Gold-Smith put together the third installment of the NHL Playoff Power Rankings. (Rankings 5-16 are unchanged from the previous edition.)

1. Vegas Golden Knights

Honestly, what else can we say about the best story in the NHL at this point?

Doubters keep expecting them to regress, but the expansion darlings continue to prove they belong among the NHL's elite clubs this spring, and they've been the most impressive team in these playoffs.

The Golden Knights made quick work of a deep, talented Winnipeg Jets squad, dispatching them in five games, and Vegas is now 12-3 in this postseason.

They've opened as the favorites in the Stanley Cup Final, and have a legitimate shot to win as long as Marc-Andre Fleury stays red-hot and the top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith continues to do serious damage.

2. Washington Capitals

The second-best story of the playoffs has undoubtedly been the Capitals exorcising their postseason demons, with Alex Ovechkin reaching the championship round for the first time in his 13-year NHL career.

Washington reeled off consecutive shutouts of the Tampa Bay Lightning as they forced Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final and then won that in convincing fashion Wednesday night.

Ovechkin looked like a man on a mission as he scored the opening goal of Game 7 a mere 62 seconds in.

The Capitals are getting what they need out of their captain, as well as from Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and goaltender Braden Holtby, but they've also gotten all-important secondary scoring from the likes of Andre Burakovsky, Devante Smith-Pelly, Brett Connolly, and Lars Eller.

3. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning had the Capitals on the ropes, taking a 3-2 series lead in the conference final before losing Games 6 and 7.

Tampa Bay's offense evaporated in those final two contests, and while the Capitals' goaltending and defense certainly deserve credit for that, the Lightning's most dynamic scorers didn't produce when they needed to most.

They should certainly hold their heads high after a solid season, but the Lightning had the Capitals where they wanted them and couldn't finish the job.

Don't blame Andrei Vasilevskiy, though. The Tampa Bay netminder - who won't turn 24 until late July - was stellar in the series, posting a .932 save percentage over the final five games. The Lightning's core should remain largely intact, so they should be one of the league's best teams once again next season.

4. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets had visions of the Cup dancing in their heads after a terrific regular season, and they looked to be on course to fulfilling that as their playoff run progressed. Then they ran into the upstart Golden Knights.

That series was closer than it appeared, but Winnipeg had no answer for Vegas' relentlessness.

Mark Scheifele tallied three times in the series but was held off the scoresheet in Games 4 and 5, managing only a single shot on goal in the latter, and Connor Hellebuyck wasn't terrible but was simply outplayed by Fleury.

Patrik Laine was neutralized, too, but the Jets will be back, and the futures of both the franchise and its brightest young star remain bright.

The rest

• 5. Nashville Predators
• 6. Pittsburgh Penguins
• 7. Boston Bruins
• 8. San Jose Sharks
• 9. Toronto Maple Leafs
• 10. Colorado Avalanche
• 11. Columbus Blue Jackets
• 12. Philadelphia Flyers
• 13. New Jersey Devils
• 14. Minnesota Wild
• 15. Anaheim Ducks
• 16. Los Angeles Kings

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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