After a goalless first period, Jakub Vrana opened the scoring for the Capitals 6:24 into the second period. Three minutes later, Nate Schmidt tied it up for the Golden Knights. It didn't last, with Alex Ovechkin netting another one for the Capitals not even a minute later. David Perron scored Vegas' second goal with seven minutes to go in the second period.

With little more than two minutes to go in the second period, Ovechkin was penalized for tripping William Karlsson, and soon, Knights' Reilly Smith scored a third goal for his side.

Devante Smith-Pelly then tied the score again, netting the Caps their third goal in the middle of the third period. Lars Eller then proceeded to get ahead of the Knights with a fourth goal that sealed the match.

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The Capitals’ previous best result was recorded 20 years ago, when they reached the 1998 Stanley Cup final only to lose four straight games in a best-of-seven series to the Detroit Red Wings.

Since then, the Caps had not advanced past the second round of the playoffs, including 11 seasons with the club’s long-time leader, Alexander Ovechkin, who joined the team in 2005.

A seemingly endless string of playoff defeats created a myth that the Caps had been plagued with the so-called ‘playoffs curse,’ which constantly hampered the players’ attempts to make it past the second round.

Last season, the squad won a fantastic 56 games and the Presidents' Trophy, but they suffered a humiliating defeat to the defending Stanley Cup holders, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the Eastern Conference second playoff round.

The Capitals managed to avenge last year’s early exit by eliminating the Penguins in the second round, 4-2.

In the Eastern Conference Final, the Caps faced tenacious resistance from the Tampa Bay Lightning, but took the upper hand in game 7 to book a ticket in the Stanley Cup Final against the Knights.