LAS VEGAS (AP) Alex Ovechkin finally got to hoist the Stanley Cup. And then he raised the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Final.Fellow Russian linemate Evgeny Kuznetsov and goaltender Braden Holtby certainly did some heavy lifting of their own.In helping deliver a championship Washington had wanted for more than 40 years Authentic Tre'Davious White Jersey , Kuznetsov was arguably the Capitals‘ most instrumental player. The 26-year-old, fifth-year pro finished with a playoff-leading 32 points, including his 20th assist in Thursday night’s series-clinching 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5.”He was unbelievable,” Ovechkin said of Kuznetsov. ”He makes the magic over there.”Holtby, overshadowed coming into the Final, bested three-time Stanley Cup champion goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. He not only allowed the Golden Knights just eight goals over the last four games, but won in Vegas twice.Holtby is now 45-37 in 82 career playoff appearances – all with the Capitals – while compiling a 2.04 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and six shutouts. That is the second-highest save percentage and fifth-best GAA in NHL postseason history among goaltenders with at least 50 outings.Washington coach Barry Trotz said it took losing the No. 1 role to Philipp Grubauer late in the regular season and the start of the postseason for Holtby to rediscover the foundation of his game he developed in Saskatchewan.”Just like all great goaltenders, you go through some dry spells in your game where you lose your way a little bit and your foundation,” Trotz said. ”We had a conversation and he was very respectful. He understood that he wasn’t going to start in the playoffs. And he said http://www.billscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-tre_davious-white-jersey , `If I get a chance to go back in, I’m gonna be really good for you.’ And he was.”His unbelievable stick save on Alex Tuch to lock up a win in Game 2 will ring forever in Caps history.”I think any big play is going to be a turning point,” Holtby said humbly. ”It was a big play in the game, but the credit really goes to our guys because we didn’t get complacent. We knew we could do something special and we did.”With Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Holtby leading the charge, Washington wasn’t about to blow another 3-1 lead, an unwelcome feature of its postseason past. Prior to this season, the Capitals had lost five series when leading 3-1, the most in the NHL.After losing Game 1, the Capitals won four straight to win the Cup Cheap Christian McCaffrey Jersey , outscoring the Golden Knights 16-8 along the way. For the series, Kuznetsov scored one goal and assisted on seven others, including Jakub Vrana’s goal that opened the scoring for the Capitals in Game 5.”Kuz is a great player, he’s a really, really talented player,” Vrana said. ”He can be the difference every game. He’s just unbelievable.”While Trotz acknowledged Ovechkin’s play and how much he’s meant to the franchise, he said Kuznetsov single-handedly took over games for the Capitals and proved to be just as valuable during their championship run.So much so, he wasn’t sure who was going to be named MVP of the Final.”That was a toss-up for me, I thought they were neck and neck if you ask me who gets the Conn Smythe, I thought that’s gonna be a tough choice Authentic Christian McCaffrey Jersey ,” Trotz said. ”You probably have to split that in half for me.”Trotz said Kuznetsov is just scratching the surface, and the rest of the league is starting to find just how good he is.Kuznetsov, who finished the regular season with 27 goals and 56 assists, scored 12 goals and had 20 assists in the postseason. He was instrumental in Washington’s 6-2 demolition of the Golden Knights in Game 4, when he registered four assists to tie a single-game Stanley Cup Final record.”Since Day 1 of training camp, we really play for each other, we work for each other and we really try to help the young guys, older guys – it doesn’t matter,” Kuznetsov said. ”We just play for your partner and we compete every day.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves to tie the record for victories in a season by an American goalie and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory.Hellebuyck has 43 victories to match the mark set by former Pittsburgh star Tom Barrasso in 1992-93. The Michigan native expected to be in goal Saturday at home against Chicago in the regular-season finale.”Yes http://www.pantherscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-christian-mccaffrey-jersey , because we’re tied, right, with Tom Barrasso? We need one more (win),” Hellebuyck said.Blake Wheeler scored his 23rd goal for his 90th point of the season, and Paul Stastny added a goal to help Winnipeg improve to 10-1-0 in its past 11 and 51-20-10 overall.”What an accomplishment for him,” Wheeler said about Hellebuyck. ”Things like that don’t happen every year so you need to enjoy them when they do happen. Really happy for him. I’m sure he’s proud of himself. Hopefully, he’ll win one more if he plays (on Saturday) and that’d be a pretty cool thing to have for him.”Rookie Spencer Foo scored his first NHL goal in his third game for the Flames.”Just went to the net hard there and had it go off my foot,” Foo said. ”Feels good. I’ll take it.”Winnipeg will play the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs after Nashville beat Washington 4-3 earlier Thursday to clinch top spot in the Central Division and Western Conference with 115 points.”We got to get through one more and then we’ll start to zero in on Minnesota,” Wheeler said.Jon Gillies stopped 24 shots for Calgary. The Flames are 1-9-0 in their past 10 games.”I thought Jon Gilles played a good game tonight,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. ”He looked a little nervous early Baker Mayfield Jersey Elite , but really settled into the game and made some big saves off some big players.”Wheeler scored with 47 seconds left in the first, tipping Dustin Byfuglien’s shot from the pointWheeler, who has five goals and 14 points in his past 11 games, became the fourth player in franchise history to hit the 90-point mark, and first since Ilya Kovalchuk in 2008-09. His previous career high was 78 points two years ago.Jets rookie Kyle Connor assisted on Wheeler’s goal, giving him 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games.Ben Chiarot made a patient play to set up Stastny’s goal, waiting for the veteran to cut toward the net and then sending a pass to his stick for the redirection and 2-0 lead at 12:59.UP NEXT:Flames: Host Vegas on Saturday night in the finale.Jets: Host Chicago on Saturday night to wrap up the regular season.