Capitals shock Golden Knights with three-goal blitz in first period of Game 4

From post to postmortem?

After an energized start for the Vegas Golden Knights stalled when James Neal — with a wide-open net from point-blank range — clanked one off the post, the Washington Capitals made him and their expansion challengers pay for it in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.

A three-goal surge in the space of 10 minutes followed Neal’s misfire, forcing the Golden Knights into pursuit for a third consecutive game.

T.J. Oshie kicked off the scoring binge just before the midway mark of the first, collecting Evgeny Kuznetsov’s miss with a skate and shovelling it home:

Kuznetsov continued to oh-so-slightly narrow the gap that separates him and Alex Ovechkin in the Conn Smythe Trophy race, spotting Tom Wilson through a mass of bodies after a quick two-man cycle off a faceoff win in the attacking zone:

And finally, Devante Smith-Pelly continued to shine in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, expertly knocking down a bullet pass from the opposite point with his left skate and lifting his sixth of the playoffs into the roof of the net:

All the sirens.

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