Hockey InsightsChampions

Stanley Cup Final · 2017-18

Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup

WSH def. VGK

Washington Capitals won the 2017-18 Stanley Cup Final 4-1 over Vegas Golden Knights, 2 were decided by a single goal.

4-1

Series result · 5 games

Washington Capitals lifted the Cup in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena.

Series after

api-web.nhle.com club-schedule-season + gamecenter boxscore · fetched 2026-08-17 · 5 Final games

The road to the Final

16 clubs, 4 rounds

The whole tournament, in the shape that spring actually had: 16 clubs, 4 rounds. Every series carries the games the schedule feed publishes. 84 in all that spring. The champion's road is the lit line — CBJ 4-2 · PIT 4-2 · TBL 4-3 · VGK 4-1. Hover a series to read it beside the board; choose one to open its games underneath.

1st Round8 series

2nd Round4 series

Eastern Conference Finals2 series

Stanley Cup Final1 series

api-web.nhle.com/v1/playoff-bracket/2018 · fetched 2026-08-17 · WSH champion · 4 rounds

The series, game by game

Pick a game

Every game of the Final as its own card. Choosing one opens its goal sequence below and repaints the series score in the band above to the moment that game ended.

Game 1 · WSH 4, VGK 6

2018-05-28 · T-Mobile Arena

Tied in the third · 4 lead changes

Goal sequence

1stWSH 2 · VGK 2
07:15 C. MillerVGKAssists: E. HaulaGo-ahead0-1PP
14:41 B. ConnollyWSHAssists: M. Kempny, A. BurakovskyEqualizer1-17m 26s later
15:23 N. BackstromWSHAssists: T. Oshie, J. VranaGo-ahead2-142s later
18:19 W. KarlssonVGKAssists: R. Smith, D. EngellandEqualizer2-22m 56s later
2ndWSH 1 · VGK 1
03:21 R. SmithVGKAssists: D. Engelland, J. MarchessaultGo-ahead2-35m 2s later
08:29 J. CarlsonWSHAssists: T. Oshie, N. BackstromEqualizer3-35m 8s later
3rdWSH 1 · VGK 3
01:10 T. WilsonWSHAssists: A. Ovechkin, E. KuznetsovGo-ahead4-312m 41s later
02:41 R. ReavesVGKEqualizer4-41m 31s later
09:44 T. NosekVGKAssists: S. Theodore, P. BellemareGAME WINNER4-57m 3s later
19:57 T. NosekVGKAssists: D. PerronInsurance4-6Empty net10m 13s later

Goaltending

B. HoltbyWSH58:12 · 5 GA · 5.16 GAA · EV 28/32 · PP 0/1 28/33 · .848 SV%L
M. FleuryVGK60:00 · 4 GA · 4.00 GAA · EV 24/28 24/28 · .857 SV%W

Shots on goal

WSH28
VGK34
DifferentialVGK +6

Points

N. BackstromWSH2
T. OshieWSH2
R. SmithVGK2
T. NosekVGK2
D. EngellandVGK2

Shots by player

D. OrlovWSH5
J. MarchessaultVGK5
D. EngellandVGK5
B. ConnollyWSH3
T. OshieWSH3

Time on ice

J. CarlsonWSH24:55
D. OrlovWSH24:14
M. NiskanenWSH24:08
S. TheodoreVGK21:52
B. McNabbVGK21:12

Hits

T. WilsonWSH9
M. NiskanenWSH5
R. SmithVGK5
A. OvechkinWSH4
B. OrpikWSH4

Three stars · the league's

1T. NosekVGK2 G 0 A
2S. TheodoreVGK0 G 1 A
3D. EngellandVGK0 G 2 A

The team line · WSH / VGK

Faceoffs won48.4% / 51.6%
Power play0/1 / 1/1
Power play %0.0% / 100.0%
Penalty minutes4 / 4
Hits38 / 25
Blocked shots18 / 17
Giveaways8 / 9
Takeaways9 / 22

api-web.nhle.com gamecenter/2017030411/landing + /boxscore + wsc/game-story · fetched 2026-08-17

The series as a whole

5 games

The shape of the Final, its intensity, and who carried it. The Conn Smythe Trophy is voted by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is not carried in this feed. These are the series leader boards, not an award pick, and no composite score is computed.

Shape

Games played5
Series result4-1
GoalsWSH 20 · VGK 14
Overtime games0
Multi-overtime games0
One-goal games2
Decided by three or more1
Shutouts0
Lead changes7
Comeback wins0
Home wins3–2
Empty-net goals1

gamecenter boxscore + landing · fetched 2026-08-17 · Empty-net goals are counted from the goal feed's own goalModifier flag. A count of zero means none was flagged, which for an early Final may mean none was recorded.

Intensity

Penalty minutes127 · 25.4 per game
Hits351 · 70.2 per game
Games with 50 or more hits5
Blocked shots152
Giveaways99
Takeaways136
Shots on goal292
Power-play goals8

gamecenter boxscore playerByGameStats · fetched 2026-08-17

Goaltending, whole series

B. HoltbyWSH5 games · 298.1 min · .916 SV% · 2.62 GAA 142/1554-1
M. FleuryVGK5 games · 293.3 min · .853 SV% · 4.09 GAA 116/1361-4

gamecenter boxscore goalies · fetched 2026-08-17

Scoring leaders

E. KuznetsovWSH8 P (1G 7A)
N. BackstromWSH7 P (1G 6A)
T. OshieWSH6 P (1G 5A)
R. SmithVGK6 P (3G 3A)
A. OvechkinWSH5 P (3G 2A)
L. EllerWSH4 P (2G 2A)

Winning goals

L. EllerWSH1 winner
D. Smith-PellyWSH1 winner
E. KuznetsovWSH1 winner
B. OrpikWSH1 winner
T. NosekVGK1 winner

Time on ice per game

M. NiskanenWSH24:53
J. CarlsonWSH24:19
N. SchmidtVGK23:04
D. OrlovWSH22:57
S. TheodoreVGK22:24

gamecenter boxscore playerByGameStats · fetched 2026-08-17

In the era

98 Finals · 520 games

This Final measured against its own decade and against every Final the league's game feed covers. The 2010s line covers 10 Finals and 60 games. Rates are per Final game, and every Final contributes only to the rates it has data for: hits-per-game is computed over the Finals since 1997-98 that record hits, not over all of them. Each rate publishes its denominator.

This Final against the era

Overtime games0 of 5
This Final0%
2010s23%
All Finals18%
One-goal games2 of 5
This Final40%
2010s50%
All Finals41%
Shutouts0 of 5
This Final0%
2010s17%
All Finals17%
Goals per game34 goals
This Final6.80
2010s5.25
All Finals5.33

derived from all 98 Finals in data/cup_finals/ · fetched 2026-08-17

Records across the feed

Longest Final2023-24 · 7 games
Most overtime games1950-51 · 5
Highest scoring1972-73 · 9.33 per game
Most one-goal games2014-15 · 5

derived from data/cup_finals/index.json · fetched 2026-08-17

What the record actually holds

Coverage

All 14 statistical modules are published for this Final. A module counts as available only if the series contains a non-zero value for it. Historical boxscores carry the same field names as modern ones filled with zeros — 1978-79 publishes hits: 0 for all 170 skaters — so field presence is not evidence and is not treated as such.

Goal-by-goal sequenceGoaltender win/loss decisionsPenalty minutesTeam shots on goalGoaltender shots/saves/save%Goaltender even-strength/PP/SH splitsSkater time on iceHitsBlocked shots, giveaways, takeawaysFaceoff percentageShift countsGoal strength (even, power play, shorthanded)Winning-goal scorer (from the schedule feed)On-ice situation codes
Method

Final games are selected from the club schedule feed on seriesStatus.seriesAbbrev of SCF, not on a round number: the Cup Final is round four only in a four-round playoff, and the 1954-55 Final is recorded as round two. No MVP or composite rating is computed. The Conn Smythe is a published award and is not in this feed.

Goal labels are relative to the team that scored. A goal that closes a two-goal gap to one is the scorer's own cut, not the leader's insurance. The winning goal is the champion's goal that put it one clear of the finalist's final total, which is the league's own definition.

Previous Final2016-17 · PITNext Final2018-19 · STL
Sources: api-web.nhle.com/v1/club-schedule-season/{team}/{season} · api-web.nhle.com/v1/gamecenter/{game}/boxscore · api-web.nhle.com/v1/gamecenter/{game}/landing · data/stanley_cup_champions.json (the site's 107-Final ledger; it drives the season list) · data/franchise_history.json (alias_chain, for season-correct tricodes). Fetched 2026-08-17. The season list is driven by the site's own Stanley Cup ledger, and tricodes are resolved season by season through the franchise alias chain, so a Final is requested with the code its clubs actually used that year.