Capitals ‘cave up’ during first two games in Las Vegas

This probably isn’t the type of activity the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority would promote, but the Washington Capitals kept to themselves during their stay for the Stanley Cup Final.

No strolling the Strip. No late-night soirees at clubs. No stays at the craps tables. Instead, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said his team “Caved.”

“All the guys are at the hotel,” Trotz said Wednesday prior to Game 2 against the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.. “It’s sort of funny. They’ve basically caved it for the last three days. There’s no tans, there’s nothing.

“This city is so different from any other. We have a really strong leadership group, which I’ve spoken about all year. As a group of men, they have a bond and have formed a pact that we’re not here for pleasure. You won’t see anybody gambling, you won’t see anybody out or in the sun for eight hours at a time or anything like that. The guys have caved it up. I heard they’re playing Mario Kart and a bunch of different things.”

Center Jay Beagle said the players knew why they were here.

“It’s why we play the game, to get to the Finals,” he said. “We’re going to stay focused. There’s no need to go out. We have a great group of leaders and we’re having a lot of fun together. We have a lounge where we all hang out and if you want to call it ‘Caving Up’ I guess that’s fine.”

Trotz said: “We can always come back to Vegas. Vegas is going to be here for a long time. This opportunity may never come around again. I think that’s the message that went out to everybody.”

Another first

When James Neal scored in the first period to give the Knights a 1-0 lead, it marked the ninth time in as many home playoff games that they have scored first.

All nine goals have come in the first period and six of the nine have come in the game’s first eight minutes.

Staff stays home

Knights owner Bill Foley is not planning to take the team’s staff to the nation’s capital for Games 3 and 4.

Capitals owner Ted Leonsis footed the bill for 200 of his employees to come to Las Vegas for Games 1 and 2.

“We’re not doing it,” Foley said. “To be honest, I thought it was a little frivolous to do that. But our employees are happy with the way things are here.”

Game 1 scoring change

The NHL announced a change in the scoring on Tomas Nosek’s goal at 9:44 of the third period in Game 1. The assists go to Shea Theodore and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

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Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.