Not wanting the season to end is already a good reason to hope that the 2018 Stanley Cup Final extends beyond Game 5, at least if you’re not a Washington Capitals fan.
Fans of the sport as a whole received a few other reasons to hope that this series goes as long as possible thanks to entertaining events before the real action even began. (You can watch that real action via this livestream link.)
The juiciest bit was the part that (probably) wasn’t choreographed. You know, assuming that Marc-Andre Fleury and Alex Ovechkin aren’t keeping kayfabe as part of a pro wrestling-style fake feud.
Before Game 2, Fleury and Ovechkin were quite playful:
With the Capitals a win away from their first Stanley Cup and Vegas in a must-win situation, it’s unclear if their exchange was “playful” or at least a little bit hateful. Judge for yourself, but it sure looks like Fleury wasn’t happy with Ovechkin’s antics:
Well, isn’t that interesting?
Speaking of dramas that felt downright episodic, the Golden Knights provided quite the rendition of their over-the-top, “Game of Thrones” meets Medieval Times presentation. Watch as the Capitals Crusader (just made that one up) and the Golden Knight battle, with the Caps’ soldier briefly getting the upper hand.
And, well, the rest is worth watching if you enjoy some corniness. Enjoy that specific clip in the video above this post’s headline.
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Circling back to the earlier point: if you don’t have a horse in the race, wouldn’t you want to see what the Golden Knights might have up their sleeves if the series went to a Game 7 for all of the marbles? Would they be able to lure Brittney Spears in to do the show? Maybe there could be another sequel for “The Hangover” to lead in? The possibilities are endless and endlessly fun.
Plus we’d get more Fleury vs. Ovechkin. And more hockey.
Maybe this Vegas team is inspiring a bit of greediness here ...
Stanley Cup Final schedule
Game 1 Monday, May 28 – Golden Knights 6, Capitals 4
Game 2 Wednesday, May 30 – Capitals 3, Golden Knights 2
Game 3 Saturday, June 2 – Capitals 3, Golden Knights 1
Game 4 Monday, June 4 – Capitals 6, Golden Knights 2 (Washington leads series 3-1)
Game 5 Thursday, June 7 – Capitals at Golden Knights, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
Game 6* Sunday, June 10 – Golden Knights at Capitals, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
Game 7* Wednesday, June 13 – Capitals at Golden Knights, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
* = If necessary
MORE:
• NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub
• Stanley Cup Final Guide
James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.