Clock freezes in final minutes of Stanley Cup Final as Capitals hold on to win

Jace Evans | USA TODAY

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The Washington Capitals were trying to hold on to a one-goal lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 to clinch their franchise's first Stanley Cup.

Both teams and their fans were desperately watching the clock with less than two minutes left. For one, far too much time remained. For the other, not enough was on the board.

Then, in one of the more surreal moments in Stanley Cup Final history, there was no way to tell how much time remained at all.

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The clock in both Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena and on-screen froze, creating a surreal scene in which seemingly the only people in the world who knew how much time was left in the game were the officials. Those in the arena and fans watching on NBC were left in the dark.

"The clock is moving. We don't know if it's accurate," NBC announcer Doc Emrick said during the broadcast.

I cannot imagine the level of panic in the production truck when the clock stopped working on the score bug with less than 2 minutes left in a Stanley Cup deciding game... pic.twitter.com/kyTF86if3U — Joe DiRienzo (@Joe_DiRienzo) June 8, 2018

The issue was corrected with a less than 30 seconds to go and the Capitals won 4-3.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jace Evans on Twitter @JaceTEvans.