It took a rocket scientist to finally launch the Washington Capitals into the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in the club’s 24-year history.
Really.
Joe Juneau, who has flowing black hair and a degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, poked a loose puck past superstar goaltender Dominik Hasek 6 minutes, 24 seconds into overtime Thursday night to give the Capitals the Eastern Conference championship with a 3-2 victory over the gallant Buffalo Sabres.
“Everybody wants to be the hero in a game like this,” said Juneau, who went strong to the net and lifted his short shot into the goal after Hasek struggled to gather in the rebound of a shot by Washington’s Brian Bellows. “And I really believed our line would score.”
The victory gave the Capitals the best-of-seven series, four games to two, and sends them into the Cup finals beginning Tuesday against either defending champion Detroit or Dallas.
When Juneau scored to end a game in which Caps goalie Olaf Kolzig outdueled Hasek by making 39 saves and holding off several furious rushes by the Sabres, Washington’s rookie coach, Ron Wilson, leaped into the arms of his assistants, then strained to see captain Dale Hunter raise the Prince of Wales Trophy.
For Hunter, 37, this was a moment he thought he might never see.
“To be playing hockey in June is an unbelievable feeling,” said Hunter, who began his NHL career in 1980. “Yeah, there were times that, in the back of my mind, I thought it might never happen. Usually, I’m planting soybeans this time of the year.”
By winning, the Capitals buried a sad history of playoff performances that included blowing three-games-to-one leads three times in the previous 10 years.
“The Caps going to the finals is like landing on the moon,” Wilson said. “I told the players (earlier Thursday) that we had two chances to land on the moon.”
Juneau’s goal brought an end to a fascinating duel of goalies, each of whom faced a barrage of shots as the Sabres outshot the Capitals 41-38.
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The Sabres controlled the game for most of the first two periods, sending 31 shots at Kolzig in the first 40 minutes. As the game wore on, though, the Caps gained their bearings. Their edge in experience showed as they twice came back from one-goal deficits on goals by Esa Tikkanen in the second period and Peter Bondra on a power play in the third.
Tikkanen’s goal came 22 seconds after Buffalo captain Michael Peca ignited the hometown crowd by giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead. Paul Kruse recovered the lead for the Sabres with a goal off his skate 7:40 into the third period.
Bondra evened the score 2-2 with a power-play goal with only 5:59 remaining. And there was overtime for the third game this series: all won by Washington.