Vegas Golden Knights look to regain momentum vs. Capitals to avoid becoming a footnote

Kevin Allen | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption NHL Stanley Cup Final: the miraculous Vegas Golden Knights SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Martin Rogers travels to Las Vegas to see just how much the Golden Knights' improbable Stanley Cup run really means to the Vegas faithful.

WASHINGTON — The 1969 New York Mets would not have been the Miracle Mets if they didn’t beat the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Ed Pinckney’s 1985 Villanova team wouldn’t be as revered today if Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown squad had whipped the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament championship game.

Memories of magical seasons aren’t as endearing if they don’t result in a championship. Teams that make impressive playoff runs and fall short become footnotes.

Do you remember the 1990-91 Minnesota North Stars? Of course, you don’t. They were a below-.500 team that somehow qualified for the playoffs, and goalie Jon Casey carried them all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. They were a fun story for five weeks. But they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the championship series and became a footnote.

As the Vegas Golden Knights prepare for Monday’s Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, they are desperately trying not to become a footnote.

“We just have to know in the back of our heads that (the magic) is still there,” Vegas defenseman Luca Sbisa said.

Most assuredly, the Golden Knights already have a place in NHL history as the most accomplished expansion team in pro sports history. Reaching the Stanley Cup Final only adds to that success. Plus, they have forever won the hearts of Vegas fans with their record-setting season.

But if they want to be remembered like the Miracle Mets, they have to win the Stanley Cup Final. To accomplish that, the Golden Knights need to win Game 4 to tie up the best-of-seven series 2-2.

More: Capitals smother Golden Knights to win Game 3

More: Orpik: 'Just got the wind knocked out of me' on Neal hit

If the Vegas Golden Knights lose Game 4, they face the reality that no team has come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win a Stanley Cup Final since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from down 3-0.

Vegas players say the key to tying the series and regaining momentum is getting back to playing their style.

Since they debuted last October, the Golden Knights have wowed the NHL with their speed and five-man forechecking scheme. They go in hard on opposing defensemen to force turnovers.

The problem, particularly in the last game, is the Capitals have been moving the puck quickly out of their zone. When the Golden Knights did get the puck in Game 3, the Capitals were not giving up prime scoring chances.

Vegas boasts skilled players and quality leaders. But they don’t have a superstar like Alex Ovechkin or Evgeny Kuznetsov who can create something out of nothing. They need their forechecking game clicking to be successful. It fuels their offense.

“We’ve just got to find a way to create momentum, even if we aren’t putting pucks in the net,” Vegas center Ryan Carpenter said. “Positive shifts. More zone time. Holding onto the pucks. It seems like we are working hard to get down low, and we don’t hold onto it, or make a bad play, and the Capitals are going the other way.”

This is the first time in the playoffs the Golden Knights have lost two games in a row, but they are accustomed to playing with doubters lining up around them. At the start of the season, this team was a 500-1 shot to win the Stanley Cup. Everyone kept waiting for a collapse that never happened.

“(In the Western Conference final), we lost the first game to Winnipeg and we had a lot of media thinking we would get run over, but we found a way to win four in a row,” Vegas forward David Perron said. “We are in a similar situation. We are in a similar situation with a lot of doubters. That’s fine with us. We have to step up and play the right way, the way that made us successful.”