The set-up: The Caps took a 4-3 lead early in the third period of Game 1 but the Golden Knights tied it very quickly. Vegas then went with Tomas Nosek's scored go-ahead goal midway into the third period and Nosek then added insurance into the empty net in Monday's 6-4 triumph. "We didn't play our best game," Capitals superstar captain Alex Ovechkin told reporters after his club's first contest since a Game 7 win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday. "I think next game is going to be different and all the nervousness, all the bad things (go) away (from) this game. We just have to forget about it and bounce back."both goaltenders came in red-hot but Fleury saved just 24 of 28 shots (.857) for Vegas, while Holby saved 28 of 33 shots (.848). Game 1 featured 10 goals and four lead changes and as the series turns to Game 2, these facts are known. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final are 46-5 (90.2 percent) when it comes to going on to eventually hoisting the Cup, while the odds drop to only 55.6 percent (15-12) for a team that loses Game 2 after winning Game 1.

Washington: Tom Wilson's blindsided hit on Jonathan Marchessault did not result in a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Tuesday, with the league citing that it was shoulder to shoulder rather than to the head and that it was in the flow of the game. Wilson had received a three-game suspension in the Eastern Conference semifinal series against Pittsburgh and said he has no plans to change his playing style. "You always have your reputation," Wilson told reporters. "When you play my physical style, you're going to have that reputation. I trust myself. I play the game hard. It's my job to bring that energy, that physicality. Right after he got up, he said 'good hit.'" Evgeny Kuznetsov notched an assist in the topsy-turvy series opener to extend his franchise-record postseason point streak to 11 games, during which the 26-year-old Russian has scored six goals and set up 10 others. T.J. Oshie set up a pair of goals in the series opener to push his point total to 13 (four goals, nine assists) in the past 12 games.

Vegas: Nosek has just eight regular-season goals in 84 career contests but owns four points (three goals, one assist) in his last three games, while fellow fourth-liner Ryan Reaves has tallied in back-to-back contests for the first time since April 6 and 8, 2017. Reilly Smith continued his stellar postseason by scoring a goal and setting up another in the series opener, giving him 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) in 16 outings. Fellow forward Marchessault has done him one better with 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists), snapping a tie with New York Islanders' Jude Drouin (1975) and San Jose Sharks' Igor Larionov (1994) for the most with a franchise in its first-ever postseason.

The pick: What made Game 1's high-scoring contest even more surprising was that Fleury had four shutouts and a .947 save percentage in his first 15 games of the playoffs, while Washington goalie Brayden Holtby came in off back-to-back shutouts against Tampa Bay and had a scoreless streak of 166 minutes and 42 seconds ended by a first period blast from the point by Vegas defenseman Colin Miller on the power play. I expect this game to be lower scoring but I see the same team coming out on top as in Game 1. Vegas has outscored the opposition 31-16 en route to posting a 7-1 mark at home in the playoffs, giving them a 36-10-3 mark on the season, outscoring opponents 3.61-to-2.41 GPG. Second verse, same as the first. Make Vegas a 10* play.