The 2018 NHL season will finish with a first-time winner hoisting the Stanley Cup.

The expansion-club phenoms out of Vegas are in one corner, having defied all odds during a historic march to the Stanley Cup Final. In the other corner are the Washington Capitals, a team that's punched its ticket to the final for the first time since 1998 after years of heartbreak.

The Golden Knights have opened as favorites. But, as this roster breakdown shows, the matchup may be a little tighter than it appears.

Forwards

During the Western Conference Final, the Golden Knights took out a Winnipeg Jets offense that was ranked second in the regular season.

Now they'll have to match the firepower of a Capitals' forward group that's been far more dangerous during the playoffs.

Each team is led by a first line that has done some heavy lifting. For the Capitals, their top trio of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson have combined for 58 playoff points. Meanwhile, Vegas has been spearheaded by Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith, who have piled up 47 points. Those two top lines are nearly a wash considering the difference in games played (a combined 54 by the Capitals' top three, and 45 by Vegas' lead unit).

Related: Knights' and Capitals' top lines take very different routes to dominance

However, overall, the Capitals have outscored Vegas forwards 59-35, potting 24 more goals in just four more games, and averaging 3.11 goals per game compared to the Golden Knights' 2.33.

Edge: Capitals - The Golden Knights forwards have done exactly what they've needed, but the Capitals stars have been more lethal in their pursuit of glory.

Defense

The Golden Knights' defense has accumulated 23 playoff points, while John Carlson alone has put up 16 points for the Capitals, that says all you need to know about the matchup on defense.

Overall, Washington's blue-liners have scored one fewer goal than the Golden Knights' backend (7), but 16 more points. They've also fired 192 shots at the opposition, much more than Vegas' 115.

On the opposite side of the puck, the Capitals have averaged 28.2 shots against per game, the second-fewest in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights have given up the fifth-most at 33.7 per game and are also averaging 9.87 high-danger scoring chances against per game at five-on-five in the playoffs compared to the Capitals' 8.84.

Edge: Capitals - Whether it be on the scoreboard or in their own end, the Capitals' defense has been more effective than that of the Golden Knights.

Goalies

After starting the postseason on the bench behind Philipp Grubauer, Braden Holtby has come alive.

He's returned to his Vezina-winning form after a regular season that was a career-worst statistically. Riding back-to-back shutouts as he enters the Stanley Cup Final, Holtby has posted a .923 save percentage (third in the playoffs among goalies with five appearances) and a 2.04 goals-against average (second).

There's just one problem: The man who occupies the top spot in both those categories will be staring him down from the opposite end of the rink.

Marc-Andre Fleury leads the postseason with a .947 save percentage and a 1.68 goals against average, putting up four shutouts along the way. His save percentage sits as the seventh-best postseason mark among any goalie to play at least six games during a single playoff run.

Edge: Golden Knights - Holtby has been great, but it's impossible not to give the edge to Fleury and the Golden Knights here.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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The Washington Capitals will not be tempted by the Las Vegas nightlife.

The Capitals descend on Sin City when they open the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night against the Golden Knights. Alex Ovechkin has made it clear the team is focused on one goal.

"We're going there to play hockey, not to pool party and play in (the) casino," Ovechkin said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "We're going there to play hockey and do our thing and then we’re going to have all the summer, and whatever we want to do, we can do it."

The Golden Knights were one of the best regular-season home teams, finishing with 29 wins (tied for third). That caused many to speculate road teams were falling ill to the infamous "Vegas flu," something the Capitals are looking to avoid.

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The Vancouver Canucks signed forward Elias Pettersson to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Friday.

Pettersson is coming off a stellar first season in the SHL where he paced the league in both regular-season and playoff scoring with 56 and 19 points respectively, each standing as new SHL records by a U20 player.

"Elias is a talented offensive player with tremendous vision and skill," general manager Jim Benning said in a release. "Like most Canucks fans we watched with excitement the incredible season he had in Sweden. This is an important offseason of training and development for Elias and we expect him to be ready to challenge for a roster spot in training camp."

His impeccable season earned him a boatload of hardware. Pettersson captured the SHL championship, was named Rookie of the Year and Best Forward, and earned MVP honors for both the regular season and playoffs.

Pettersson was selected fifth overall in last year's draft.

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It would appear Leo Komarov would prefer to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs next season.

Komarov is a pending unrestricted free agent and his representative Todd Diamond is hopeful he and newly appointed general manager Kyle Dubas will meet soon to discuss his client's future with the team, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Komarov has played his entire five-year NHL career with the Maple Leafs but is coming off his worst season statistically, in which he tallied just seven goals and 19 points in 74 games.

During the playoffs, Komarov spent the majority of the Maple Leafs' series against the Boston Bruins as a scratch, playing in just two games of the seven-game series.

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Former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello will join the New York Islanders to run hockey operations, according to Arthur Staple of The Athletic.

More to come.

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After taking out the Nashville Predators in a heated seven-game series in the second round, it seemed like a near formality that the Winnipeg Jets would cruise into the Stanley Cup Final.

There was just one problem, though - they met a determined Vegas club. After taking Game 1, the Jets were grounded by the Golden Knights in the final four games and ousted from the playoffs.

After such a promising campaign followed by two strong rounds in the postseason, the loss in the conference finals has, presumably, left an emptiness with the Jets and their fans. In the end, there were three main aspects that led to the team's downfall:

Goaltending

Entering the series, the goaltending battle was expected to be among the best in the playoffs. In one end, a Vezina Trophy nominee in Connor Hellebuyck, and in the other, the Conn Smythe Trophy front-runner Marc-Andre Fleury.

Game 1 was a bit of a wash with Hellebuyck coming out slightly ahead statistically, but from Game 2 to Game 5, it was quite clear that Fleury had the upper hand over his counterpart.

Overall, Fleury was by far the more tested goalie, facing 161 shots to Hellebuyck's 139. Fleury also faced a higher number of quality scoring chances and once again came out the victor against Hellebuyck.

Lack of secondary scoring

Now, while Hellebuyck might shoulder a lot of the blame for the Jets' exit, the fact is, many of the club's most dependable scorers also failed to get results.

Through five games, the Jets found the back of the net just 10 times, and among those, only six came at five-on-five. Meanwhile, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine were the only Jets to score more than a single goal in the series, accounting for half of the team's production.

Further, Blake Wheeler, Mathieu Perreault, Paul Stastny, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Bryan Little all went goalless in the series (though Wheeler did record six assists). In all, only four forwards mustered a goal against the Golden Knights.

Entering the series, it was quite clear that the Golden Knights were up against a potent offense, the likes of which they had not encountered in the previous two rounds, but in the end, they were able to neutralize the Jets' most deadly weapons.

Golden Knights' opportunistic play

What was easily the most demoralizing part of the Golden Knights' attack was how opportunistic they were.

After Game 1 of the series, the Golden Knights clamped down on the Jets' offense, so much so that Winnipeg never held a lead at any point through the rest of the series. This was mainly due to the fact that on three separate occasions, Vegas quickly responded to a Jets goal by scoring one of their own less than 90 seconds later.

On top of that, the Jets largely outplayed the Golden Knights in the series. Winnipeg outshot Vegas 161-140 and owned the majority of quality scoring chances.

At five-on-five, the Jets had 60 high-danger scoring chances compared to 40 from the Golden Knights. However, Vegas was able to capitalize on seven of those chances while the Jets were successful on only three. That comes out to a high-danger save percentage of .950 for Fleury and .825 for Hellebuyck.

The Jets took a huge step forward this season. They won their first playoff game and their first two series in franchise history. They proved to be among the best teams in the league, but when it came to the Western Conference Final, it's evident that these three things ultimately brought their run to a halt.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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The St. Louis Blues and Enterprise announced a longtime naming-rights agreement that will see "Scottrade Center" renamed "Enterprise Center" on Monday.

The agreement is for 15 years with an additional five-year option and goes into effect on July 1.

"The Blues call this building St. Louis’ town hall, where people come to watch everything from hockey to concerts to NCAA basketball," said president of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation Jo Ann Taylor Kindle. "Going forward, the name of this town hall will be Enterprise Center."

The partnership comes while the soon-to-be Enterprise Center is currently undergoing renovations that will include more dining and beverage options and create new gather spaces within the arena.

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Monday night's Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning will be new territory for Alex Ovechkin.

The Washington Capitals captain - who's playing in his first conference finals - will be looking to help keep his team's Stanley Cup aspirations alive, and admitted it's likely the biggest game of his 13-year NHL career.

"Yeah, probably," Ovechkin replied when asked if Game 6 would be the most important contest he's played to date, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "It's two steps and you're in the Stanley Cup Final. We just have to play our best. We can't lose. They have the advantage right now, but we have to win the game and go back and play Game 7 in Tampa."

The Capitals - who trail the Lightning 3-2 in the series - will be back at home on Sunday, where they lost Games 3 and 4. Still, Ovechkin expressed confidence that his team can turn things around.

"Tonight is the night," he said, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post.

With a win in Game 6, the Lightning would punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, where the Vegas Golden Knights await. If Washington wins, Game 7 would be Wednesday night in Tampa Bay.

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The Minnesota Wild are set to name Nashville Predators assistant general manager Paul Fenton as the team's third general manager in team history, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic.

Fenton was reportedly offered the job nearly two days ago and sources confirmed to Russo on Sunday that he had indeed accepted. It is expected that he'll be introduced by the team on Monday or Tuesday.

The 58-year-old has been with the Predators for 18 years, serving as the team's AGM for the past 10. It was reported back in late April that Fenton was interviewing for the job and he also reportedly interviewed for the Carolina Hurricanes GM job, but withdrew his name from the job in March.

The Wild elected not to re-sign previous general manager Chuck Fletcher this past season after the club was bounced from the first round of the playoffs for the third straight season and the fourth time in six years.

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Even the architect of their success can't fully understand the juggernaut that is the Vegas Golden Knights.

With a win over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 on Sunday afternoon, Vegas is heading to the Stanley Cup Final. And while general manager George McPhee was the man who built the team's roster from scratch, it's safe to say even he didn't predict a trip to the finals.

"It's a hell of a team. I don't know how we did it," McPhee said, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. "We just played our game and these players played their guts out. There's just something special about them. They made it happen. I don't know how to explain it."

That McPhee is at a loss for words shouldn't really come as a surprise, especially considering that the Golden Knights have become just the third team in NHL history to clinch a berth in the Cup Final in its inaugural season.

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