WASHINGTON (AP) Evgeny Kuznetsov smiled about getting four assists. He tried not to smile too much at the thought of being one win away from the Stanley Cup.
The Capitals seem to be getting enough bounces to make up for nine previous first- or second-round playoff exits in the Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom era - and plenty of disappointments in the previous decades, too.
"He just tells me to put my stick on the ice and he'll hit it," Wilson said of Kuznetsov. "It's a privilege to play with him. He's one of the best at his craft."
Fleury called the loss "frustrating and demoralizing." Coach Gerard Gallant was quick to absolve his goaltender of blame.
"At least five of the six goals were wide-open nets," Gallant said. "Nothing he could do on them."
Somehow, the Capitals have turned around their results at home, winning their past three in Washington after losing five of their first eight. This one got chippy at the end when Oshie broke Vegas defenseman Colin Miller's nose on a hit and was given a game-ending 10-minute misconduct along with Golden Knights forwards Deryk Engelland and Ryan Reaves.
"It is not ideal, but it is the Stanley Cup finals and everyone wants to win," Backstrom said.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said he and his Vegas teammates can't win three games in one night, so they have no choice but to focus on the next opportunity to stave off elimination.
"You have the opportunity to do something special as a group, but it's going to be the hardest thing to do, the hardest game to win because there's a very good team on the other side, a very proud team," Trotz said. "They're great in their building. We're not scared of their building. We've proved it that we're very good on the road and we're going to go there and put our best effort in there."