[3] Major re-signings during the off-season included forwards T. J. Oshie,[4] Evgeny Kuznetsov,[5] and Andre Burakovsky;[6] and goalie Philipp Grubauer.

Wanting to make a Stanley Cup run with the core players that they already had,[9] they only acquired defencemen Michal Kempny from the Chicago Blackhawks[10] and Jakub Jerabek from the Montreal Canadiens.

Left winger and team captain Alexander Ovechkin was the winner of this season's Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, leading the league with 49 regular-season goals.

[13] In the first round of playoffs, Washington came back from a 2–0 series deficit to win four in a row and beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games.

However, the Golden Knights exceeded even the most optimistic projections to turn in one of the strongest debut seasons for an expansion team in North American professional sports history.

Some notable selections included goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who had won three Stanley Cups as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, winger James Neal from the Nashville Predators, and Jonathan Marchessault from the Florida Panthers.

Instead of being sellers trying to unload players with one-year contracts by the trade deadline, Vegas became surprise buyers,[24] acquiring Ryan Reaves from the Penguins[25] and Tomas Tatar from the Detroit Red Wings.

In contrast, the Golden Knights were the first true expansion team in NHL history to advance all the way to the Finals while not playing in an all-expansion division.

The first goal came from Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Colin Miller whose slap shot went past Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby.

Early in the second period, a rebound off the glass came to Deryk Engelland who passed to an open Reilly Smith firing one past Holtby.

Capitals defenceman John Carlson tied up the score after some nice passing from the defender and T. J. Oshie left himself wide open for the goal.

In the third period, Tom Wilson redirected Alexander Ovechkin's shot past Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to take the lead in the game.

During the second period, Golden Knights rookie Alex Tuch was penalized for cross-checking, and on the ensuing power-play, Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin fired a shot from a tight angle to give Washington the lead.

However, 10 minutes later Shea Theodore mishandled the puck in his own zone and Jay Beagle capitalized on the error, making a pass to an open Devante Smith-Pelly who restored the two-goal lead for Washington.

The Capitals extended the lead after Evgeny Kuznetsov fed a pass to Tom Wilson who fired a wrist shot past Marc-Andre Fleury.

Washington restored a three-goal lead during a four-on-four; as Nicklas Backstrom fed an open Michal Kempny, firing the shot past Fleury.

During the second period, Tom Wilson passed to a speedy Jakub Vrana going past the Golden Knight's defender and beating Marc-Andre Fleury to take the lead.

The Golden Knights tied the game soon after as former-Capitals defenceman Nate Schmidt shot through a flurry of players and the puck deflected off of Matt Niskanen past Braden Holtby.

An open Reilly Smith gave the Golden Knights the lead in the final minute of the second period, taking the pass from Alex Tuch.