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WASHINGTON (AP) Evgeny Kuznetsov smiled about getting four assists. He tried not to smile too much at the thought of being one win away from the Stanley Cup.With Kuznetsov and goaltender Braden Holtby leading the way Youth Matt Nieto Jersey , the Washington Capitals are on the verge of capturing the first title in their 43rd season after routing the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 on Monday night to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals will get their first chance to hoist the Cup in Game 5 on Thursday night in Las Vegas.One more win.”I’ve never been there,” Kuznetsov said after just the fourth four-assist game in Cup Final history. ”And I don’t really care about that yet, so it’s kind of easy for me. You know me, I always stay loose a little bit especially off the games. I’m pretty sure when game gonna come, we’re gonna a little bit think about it. It’s pretty hard to not think about that.”T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly all scored in the first period to get the Capitals rolling against a determined Vegas team that has not found consistent answers against Holtby, who stopped 28 shots in another strong showing. The Golden Knights outchanced the Capitals by a wide margin but fell apart after James Neal clanked a shot off the post instead of hitting a wide-open net early, and the expansion team’s Cinderella run could be over in a matter of days.”It probably changes the game,” Neal said. ”It’s probably a different game after that I had a wide-open net, and then I just hit the post.”John Carlson, Michal Kempny and Brett Connolly also scored as thunderous chants of ”We want the Cup! We want the Cup!” rang out from the crowd. No team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1942 has blown a 3-1 lead in the Cup Final.”It can be easy in a game where you can clinch to get a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Oshie said. ”But we’ve got a good group of leaders in the room … and we’ll be focused at the start.”The Capitals seem to be getting enough bounces to make up for nine previous first- or second-round playoff exits in the Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom era – and plenty of disappointments in the previous decades, too.While Vegas rang several shots off the posts, the Capitals seized just about every opportunity as they have throughout this surprising run. Kuznetsov padded his lead as the playoffs’ leading scorer with primary assists on Oshie’s power-play goal that made it 1-0 and Wilson’s that doubled the lead.”He just tells me to put my stick on the ice and he’ll hit it,” Wilson said of Kuznetsov. ”It’s a privilege to play with him. He’s one of the best at his craft.”Smith-Pelly, who scored the insurance goal to ice Game 3, kicked the puck from his left skate to his stick and roofed a shot on Marc-Andre Fleury with 20.5 seconds left in the first period. Fleury came into the final as the Conn Smythe front-runner for playoff MVP honors but looked human again by allowing six goals on 23 shots at a defense that has often left him vulnerable.Fleury called the loss ”frustrating and demoralizing.” Coach Gerard Gallant was quick to absolve his goaltender of blame.”At least five of the six goals were wide-open nets,” Gallant said. ”Nothing he could do on them.”Kuznetsov leads all playoff scorers with 31 points Mikko Rantanen Jersey , Ovechkin is tied for the goal lead with 14 and Holtby showed again his ability to alter the course of a game. Holtby got some good fortune from the post on shots by Alex Tuch, Neal and Brayden McNabb, but he also had not allowed a goal in more than 62 minutes stretching back to Game 3.”We obviously got some breaks at the start of the game,” Holtby said. ”Honestly I thought (Neal’s shot) was in, my angle, and somehow it didn’t go in.”Somehow, the Capitals have turned around their results at home, winning their past three in Washington after losing five of their first eight. This one got chippy at the end when Oshie broke Vegas defenseman Colin Miller’s nose on a hit and was given a game-ending 10-minute misconduct along with Golden Knights forwards Deryk Engelland and Ryan Reaves.”It is not ideal, but it is the Stanley Cup finals and everyone wants to win,” Backstrom said.Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said he and his Vegas teammates can’t win three games in one night, so they have no choice but to focus on the next opportunity to stave off elimination.Coach Barry Trotz wants his players to relax and not think too much about the chance in front of them.”You have the opportunity to do something special as a group, but it’s going to be the hardest thing to do, the hardest game to win because there’s a very good team on the other side, a very proud team,” Trotz said. ”They’re great in their building. We’re not scared of their building. We’ve proved it that we’re very good on the road and we’re going to go there and put our best effort in there.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals— DALLAS (AP) The Ottawa Senators are dealing with crisis after crisis at every level.Former captain Daniel Alfredsson called for owner Eugene Melnyk to sell the team, assistant general manager Randy Lee is suspended pending his court date on a harassment charge, and 20-goal scorer Mike Hoffman was traded amid an off-ice dispute with captain Erik Karlsson, whose own future is uncertain.Thirteen months ago Nathan MacKinnon Jersey , the Senators were a goal away from the Stanley Cup Final. Now they’re in turmoil.”Through adversity we find people’s true character,” general manager Pierre Dorion said Thursday. ”We find out who wants to be with you in a war in tough times. It’s great when people want to be around you when you’re a goal away from getting to the Stanley Cup Final, but we really find out about people’s true values and true character and real integrity when it’s difficult situations. All I can say is we at the Ottawa Senators, we have great people.”As if Alfredsson’s pointed criticism wasn’t enough, Lee was charged with second-degree harassment after allegedly making lewd comments and rubbing the shoulders of a 19-year-old male hotel shuttle driver at the scouting combine. Add to that, Melinda Karlsson filed an order of protection alleging harassment and cyberbullying against Hoffman’s fiancee, Monika Caryk, for posting hundreds of derogatory online messages about her and her husband.One of these crises would be enough to challenge an organization, let alone them piling up. Fans in Ottawa are unhappy with Melnyk, who mused about moving the team and infamously said he’s ”not going to blow a lifetime of working hard on a hockey team.”It’s hard work now for Dorion and the front office to get things back on track. He began earlier this week by trading Hoffman to San Jose, a deal that he explained as a way to fix team chemistry and character.”Trading Mike Hoffman was something that we needed to do,” Dorion said. ”Our dressing room was broken. We have to have a dressing room that wants to win together. Key components for us moving forward are character, leadership, accountability, and we’re very happy with the return we got on Mike Hoffman.”The return of forward Mikkel Boedker and the fact that the Sharks flipped Hoffman to Florida to clear salary-cap space was almost inconsequential. The relationship between two of Ottawa’s top players seemed irreparable after Karlsson’s wife said in a sworn statement that ”Monika Caryk has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child dead.” The Karlssons’ first child, a son named Axel, was stillborn in March.Dorion said no players came to management last season to talk about any concerns. But something was wrong for Ottawa to go from a playoff contender that was difficult to play against to 28-43-11 and second-to-last in the NHL.”We finished in 30th place last year,” Dorion said. ”There is great room for improvement.”On the ice Authentic Alexander Wennberg Jersey , Dorion hopes a full season with center Matt Duchene and an influx of talent including the player selected fourth overall Friday night will make the Senators competitive again. He refused to speak about Karlsson, the elite puck-moving defenseman who could become a free agent in the summer of 2019 and on whose shoulders the franchise’s best hopes rest.Dorion said only the Senators ”have a good game plan” and could table a contract offer to Karlsson as soon as July 1. He wouldn’t comment as to whether trading Hoffman might help the cause of re-signing Karlsson and didn’t want to commit to a rebuild or a retooling effort or label the front office’s direction.”People like to brand things,” Dorion said. ”Whatever direction we’re going, we need core players to be part of that. You can’t just put a bunch of young kids on a team. You need core players.”Lee has been a key part of the Senators’ front office for decades, but he’s not with them at the NHL draft because of his suspension ahead of a court date July 6 in Buffalo, New York. Lee pleaded not guilty to the harassment charges.”We felt we made the right decision with Randy Lee,” Dorion said. ”In 23 years with the organization there’s never been an incident recorded. It’s an on-going process. On July 6, Randy will have his due process, and from there we will re-evaluate.”On the topic of Melnyk, Commissioner Gary Bettman said at the Stanley Cup Final that the Senators were not for sale. Any complaints about ownership, from Alfredsson or the fan base, are above Dorion’s head, but he said it’s on his shoulders to help get the Senators back to the playoffs and hopes he can convince free agents of the strong belief he has in the direction they’re going.”Come to Ottawa,” Dorion said. ”We’re going to be a good team. We were really close a year ago. We had a bump in the road. We have good players. You can be part of this group that can be part of a good team and build toward a great future.”—