All posts by Craig Hagerman

Capitals ride 3rd-period comeback to win 1st Stanley Cup in franchise history

Alex Ovechkin has his Cup.

The Washington Capitals overcame a one-goal, third-period deficit to capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history with a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 on Thursday.

After falling behind two separate times in the second period, the Golden Knights stormed back late in the frame with goals from David Perron and Reilly Smith to head into the final period with a 3-2 lead.

The Capitals, on the back of goals from Devante Smith-Pelly and Lars Eller, re-took the lead in the third period and never looked back. They hung on to claim the franchise's first Cup win in just their second-ever Final appearance.

Ovechkin, unsurprisingly was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, with the win in Vegas, the Capitals become the first team since the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup after trailing in all four series.

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Coyotes don’t expect to trade 5th overall pick

Unless a deal is too good to pass up, the Arizona Coyotes will be selecting fifth overall in this month's draft.

The Coyotes made a splash last season after they dealt their first-round pick at the draft, but this year general manager John Chayka is more confident in the talent that should be available when Phoenix makes its selection.

"We feel strongly about that group of players (at the top of the draft) and we know there's going to be a player at No. 5 that we're really excited to get," Chayka said, according to Dave Vest of coyotes.nhl.com. "Last year, obviously, we traded our first-round pick, and part of that was we didn't feel as strongly or as passionately about that pick as we did say Clayton Keller (at No. 7) the year before, and not as passionately as we do this year. There's a lot of conviction in our scouts and their beliefs in the players that we believe are going to be there when we pick fifth, so we plan on holding the pick and taking the pick and getting a great player."

Last year the Coyotes dealt the seventh overall pick and defenseman Anthony DeAngelo to the New York Rangers for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta.

Earlier in the day The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported that the Coyotes have talked about potentially moving up or down in the draft and that one of the teams they have spoken with is the Montreal Canadiens who hold the third overall selection.

So until the Coyotes make their pick, nothing appears set in stone.

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Coyotes don’t expect to trade 5th overall pick

Unless a deal is too good to pass up, the Arizona Coyotes will be selecting fifth overall in this month's draft.

The Coyotes made a splash last season after they dealt their first-round pick at the draft, but this year general manager John Chayka is more confident in the talent that should be available when Phoenix makes its selection.

"We feel strongly about that group of players (at the top of the draft) and we know there's going to be a player at No. 5 that we're really excited to get," Chayka said, according to Dave Vest of coyotes.nhl.com. "Last year, obviously, we traded our first-round pick, and part of that was we didn't feel as strongly or as passionately about that pick as we did say Clayton Keller (at No. 7) the year before, and not as passionately as we do this year. There's a lot of conviction in our scouts and their beliefs in the players that we believe are going to be there when we pick fifth, so we plan on holding the pick and taking the pick and getting a great player."

Last year the Coyotes dealt the seventh overall pick and defenseman Anthony DeAngelo to the New York Rangers for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta.

Earlier in the day The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported that the Coyotes have talked about potentially moving up or down in the draft and that one of the teams they have spoken with is the Montreal Canadiens who hold the third overall selection.

So until the Coyotes make their pick, nothing appears set in stone.

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Report: Hurricanes, Islanders interested in Caps’ Grubauer

The New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes are both eyeing the Washington Capitals in hopes of solving their goaltending woes.

Both teams have already shown interest in Capitals backup Philipp Grubauer, a source indicated to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

The 26-year-old is coming off his third season as Braden Holtby's second in command and will become a restricted free agent on July 1. Grubauer saw the largest workload of his career this season playing in 35 games while going 15-10-3 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.

In fact, he even stole the net from Holtby near the end of the regular season, starting the Capitals' first two games of the postseason.

As for the Hurricanes and Islanders, the two clubs finished 31st and 22nd, respectively, in goals against this season. Upgrading their netminder will clearly be each team's top priority this offseason.

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Lamoriello: Signing Tavares did not factor in firing of Snow, Weight

The New York Islanders' firing of Garth Snow and Doug Weight shouldn't impede their attempts to re-sign John Tavares.

On Monday, the team announced that Snow and Weight were relieved of their duties and that president of hockey operations, Lou Lamoriello, will assume the role as general manager. Following the announcement, Lamoriello noted that the club's attempt to re-sign its captain did not factor into the personnel changes.

"That certainly has not and did not enter into any of the decisions that were made," Lamoriello said, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Tavares will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Last month it was reported that Lamoriello had met with Tavares on behalf of the Islanders ahead of officially joining the team as president of hockey ops.

Tavares has spent his entire nine-year career with the Islanders since being picked first overall in 2009, where he's tallied 272 goals and 621 points in 669 games.

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Down 3-1 in Stanley Cup Final, history’s not on Golden Knights’ side

After taking a 1-0 series lead, the Vegas Golden Knights have dropped three straight games and are now a single loss away from watching the Washington Capitals claim their first-ever Stanley Cup.

The Golden Knights are now the 34th team in NHL history to fall behind 3-1 in the Cup Final, and in the 33 previous instances, only once has a team come back to win it all.

The lone time being in 1942 when the Toronto Maple Leafs overcame a 3-0 series deficit against the Detroit Red Wings, winning four straight to capture their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.

If there is any reason for the Golden Knights to be optimistic, it is Washington's record when leading a series 3-1, where they are just 7-5. To put that into perspective, the rest of the NHL have a combined record of 269-23 in those instances.

The Golden Knights' daunting task of prolonging the series starts when they return home for Game 5 on Wednesday.

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Golden Knights’ Miller broke his nose on Oshie hit

Colin Miller had good reason to be upset after Michal Kempny's third-period goal gave the Washington Capitals a 5-2 lead on Monday.

Capitals forward T.J. Oshie rocked the Vegas Golden Knights defender with a hit that broke his nose, head coach Gerard Gallant revealed at his postgame press conference, according to Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press.

The lone good news for Vegas is that Miller didn't miss any playing time after the hit, needing just a couple plugs to help stop the bleeding.

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Kuznetsov becomes 5th player to hit 30 playoff points in over 20 years

Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov joined an elite group thanks to his third three-plus-point effort of the playoffs Monday night.

The 26-year-old's third assist of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final gave him 30 points this postseason, making him just the fifth player to hit that mark in the last 21 years.

Kuznetsov now has a four-point cushion over teammate Alex Ovechkin for the top spot in the playoff scoring race. He's also jumped into 10th place on the Capitals' career playoff scoring list.

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NHL ref Garrett Rank qualifies for U.S. Open

While the Stanley Cup Final may be in full swing, NHL referee Garrett Rank has another tournament on his mind.

The 30-year-old qualified for the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinneock Hills after tying for first place in a qualifying event at Ansley Golf Club in Rosewell, Ga., on Monday.

"Was next to the best players in the world on the ice ... next week I get to play with the best golfers in the world," Rank told theScore contributor Adam Stanley. "It's a pretty cool life I'm living right now."

Rank, who became a full-time ref in 2014, shot 2-under over 36 holes at one of the 12 regional qualifying tournaments on Monday.

The U.S. Open gets underway on June 14.

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Canucks ink DiPietro to entry-level contract

The Vancouver Canucks signed goaltender Michael DiPietro to a three-year, entry-level contract Thursday, the team announced.

The 18-year-old was selected by the Canucks in the third round of the 2017 draft. He's coming off his third season with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League, where he went 29-21-1 with a .910 save percentage, a 2.79 goals-against average, and seven shutouts.

DiPietro's impressive season earned him the OHL Goaltender of the Year Award, and he was named Canada's third-string goalie at the World Championship in Denmark.

With DiPietro locked up, the team now boasts another promising goaltending prospect alongside 2014 second-round pick Thatcher Demko.

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