Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby may live on hockey's highlight reel forever after robbing Vegas Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch to preserve a 3-2 victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Holtby bounced back from an uneven Game 1, making 37 saves, but one clearly stood out to his teammates, who were grateful for the former Vezina Trophy winner.

Related: Twitter reacts to Holtby's unbelievable stick save

"The save of the year ... maybe the save of a lifetime," Capitals forward Jay Beagle said to NHL.com's Brian McNally.

"Thank God he’s our goalie," Alexander Ovechkin told Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post.

"That'll be on Sportscenter," Matt Niskanen added.

The Capitals now head back home with a 1-1 series split and are looking to take control of the series after surviving the Golden Knights in a rowdy atmosphere.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Braden Holtby might've been the Washington Capitals' best player in their Game 2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, but Lars Eller was the team's best skater, and it couldn't have come at a more crucial time.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Caps' No. 1 center and leading point-getter so far this postseason, left the game in the first period after taking a hit from Brayden McNabb and did not return. This bumped Nicklas Backstrom up to the top line and Eller up to the second line, and he did not disappoint.

First, Eller buried Washington's opening goal into the yawning cage after two nice passes from Andre Burakovsky and Michal Kempny. Then, while taking Kuznetsov's spot on the power play, he fed Alex Ovechkin with a cross-crease pass to give the Caps the lead. For an encore, he started the rush on Brooks Orpik's goal, setting him up with a beautiful no-look dish.

That gave Eller three points in the game, making him directly responsible for each of Washington's goals. And this wasn't the first time this postseason Eller stepped up in the absence of a key center.

When Backstrom was out for the final game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round and the first three games of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Eller was the team's unsung hero, collecting five points in those four games, three of which were wins.

Eller signed a five-year contract extension in February with an average annual value of $3.5 million. Coming off a career-high 38-point season, he now has 17 points in 21 playoff games. It's safe to say that contract is looking like a bargain now, given the demand for quality two-way centers around the league.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby may have pulled off the save of the year at the most critical time.

With the Capitals holding onto a narrow 3-2 lead, Vegas Golden Knights winger Alex Tuch appeared certain to tie the game up in the final stages, but Holtby had other ideas, getting his stick on the puck to preserve the lead.

The hockey world was expectedly in awe of the save.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

LAS VEGAS (AP) Alex Ovechkin scored and blocked a shot in the second period and Braden Holtby made spectacular saves, lifting the Washington Capitals to a series-tying 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night.

Lars Eller had a goal and two assists as the Capitals secured the first win in the Final in franchise history. Washington was swept by Detroit in the 1998 Final.

Brooks Orpik scored Washington's third goal midway through the second period, ending a 220-game drought.

James Neal gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead 7:58 into the game and Shea Theodore pulled them within a goal late in the second.

Game 3 is Saturday night in Washington.

---

More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov headed to the locker room after taking a high hit from Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb during the first period.

The Capitals' star was not on the bench to begin the second period and was later deemed questionable to return with an upper-body injury.

Here is the play in question:

Kuznetsov leads the NHL in scoring during the playoffs with 25 points and if he is to miss any time, it would be a crushing blow for the Capitals.

It's likely that Lars Eller sees more ice time as a result of Kuznetsov's injury.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Washington Capitals forward Brett Connolly succinctly summarized the importance of a great start to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"In the playoffs, we've gotten down in games, we've played like s--- some nights," Connolly told Mike Hume of The Washington Post prior to Wednesday's contest.

The Capitals actually took a 4-3 lead early in the third period of Game 1, but the Golden Knights responded with three consecutive goals to win 6-4.

Connolly scored the opener for the Capitals in Game 1, and will be looked upon to continue providing secondary contributions. Time will only tell if his candid assessment serves as a rallying point.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Properly addressing the middle of the ice has eluded Mark Bergevin since the beginning of his tenure as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens. In a desperation effort to fill a top-line center role last season, the Habs shifted newly acquired Jonathan Drouin from left wing to the middle, and it came with some mixed results.

Drouin finished the season with a minus-28 rating (third-worst on team, 11th-worst in NHL), won just 42.5 percent of his faceoffs at even strength, and his possession numbers hovered around 50 percent despite an offensive-zone start percentage of nearly 60, per Hockey-Reference. His point total also fell from 53 in 2016-17 to 46 last season.

Bergevin admitted the learning curve of playing center was difficult for Drouin at times.

"As we speak today, there is a lack in the middle. (Drouin), well, I would say in the first half he had a hard time adjusting to center," he told NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. "As the season progressed, well, is he the perfect centerman? Is he Sidney Crosby? Of course not. But can he fill a role at times? Yes he can. We'll have to address some of our needs, sure."

Despite the 23-year-old's turbulent season, Bergevin isn't ready to call the Drouin-at-center experiment a failure.

"At the same time, there is a perception that (Drouin) failed there. I'm not ready to say that. He played some center in junior and he played some (with the Tampa Bay Lightning). Other than goaltending, I think center is probably the hardest position to fill. It takes some time and some mileage to play that position to a degree where you could really help your team win. So I'm not going to write him off there. But we have options we can look at as we speak."

Drouin did show progression manning the middle of the ice as the season wore on, collecting 13 points in his last 15 games, and improving his faceoff win percentage to a respectable 48.7 percent during that span.

Going about improving the center position could once again prove difficult for Bergevin this offseason. Though his team holds the third overall pick, the top end of the draft is filled with wingers and defenseman, not centers. On the free-agent market, John Tavares and Paul Stastny are the only capable No. 1 centers - but both will be highly sought after.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Former Edmonton Oilers right winger Normand Lacombe is asking for the public's help after his Stanley Cup ring was stolen from his vehicle Saturday night.

Lacombe, who was a member of the Oilers' 1987-88 championship team, told CTV News he took the ring off before playing golf near his home in Spruce Grove, Alberta, and left it in his car overnight.

"(I'm) sick to my stomach," he said. "It's obviously sentimental value. My name is on it, my number.

“You can't replace a Stanley Cup ring. (It's) probably one of my favorite memories playing in the NHL. Everyone dreams to win a Cup and I did and I have a ring, and I'd like it back."

Lacombe was selected 10th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1983 NHL Draft. He was traded to the Oilers in 1987 and went on to play 133 games for the team.

Spruce Grove RCMP is investigating the theft of the ring and is offering a cash reward for its return.

"I'm very optimistic," Lacombe added. "That's my nature anyway. I'm optimistic someone will bring it back."

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley was on hand to see his team defeat the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but there is one notable change he'd like to make moving forward.

Foley was irked by the Capitals' traveling fan base that occupied large portions of the arena and is considering not selling blocks of tickets as the Golden Knights look to win a title in their inaugural season.

"I can move around the ticket locations," Foley told Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com. "I don't want to see them together."

Foley said he believed Capitals supporters occupied approximately 12 percent of T-Mobile Arena.

It doesn't appear Foley will get his wish imminently, but a raucous home crowd figures to give Vegas the home-ice advantage it needs entering a pivotal Game 2.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Magnus Paajarvi will be back with the Ottawa Senators for at least another season.

The Senators signed the left winger to a one-year contract extension worth $900,000 on Wednesday.

He was a pending unrestricted free agent who chipped in six goals and two assists in 35 games with Ottawa after being claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Blues in late January.

The 27-year-old was chosen 10th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2009.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.