By Jacob Messing

The Washington Capitals won their first Stanley Cup Championship on Thursday after coming from behind to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It stands as the Capitals’ first league title in their 43 years, as the annually competitive team finally found a way after years of disappointment.

THE @Capitals ARE THE 2018 #STANLEYCUP CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/5hIneswpFK

— NHL (@NHL) June 8, 2018

Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin earned the Conn Smythe as the postseason MVP after his 15 goals led all skaters—tied for the most by a single player in the playoffs in the last 20 years.

The 32-year-old gets to add two massive awards to a resume that already includes a Calder Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, three Hart Trophies, seven Rocket Richard Trophies, and 11 All-Star appearances. 

LOOK WHAT @OVI8 GOT! ? #ALLCAPS #STANLEYCUP pic.twitter.com/SbkhwIAUm4

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 8, 2018

Washington has fought hard during Ovechkin’s 13-year career. After consecutive President’s Trophies in 2015-16 and 2016-17 pegged the Capitals as favorites for the title, a familiar foe in the Pittsburgh Penguins ousted them in the second round before claiming the title for themselves each year.

Last summer, the continuing disappointment saw an offseason of significant change as Justin Williams, Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, Marcus Johansson, and Nate Schmidt all found new teams.

When asked about the turnover at the beginning of the year, Ovechkin offered one sentence of broken English, stating “we’re not going to be suck.”

Amazing pass, amazing finish. Washington back up by 1. #ALLCAPS #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/nmzR372zrB

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 8, 2018

Eight months later, he can look back and see that lessened expectations took the weight right off. The Capitals won their third straight Metropolitan Division. They came back from a 2-0 deficit to win four straight in the first round. They exorcised their demons by knocking off two-time defending champ Pittsburgh in Round 2. They fought off a fast, deep, and immensely skilled Tampa Bay team in the conference finals.

Even as the expectations grew again and they were staring down an extraordinarily deep Vegas team, Washington bounced back to win four straight after dropping a close Game 1 in the desert.

The Capitals likely have another offseason of change ahead of them as they crunch the numbers to try and re-sign No. 1 defenseman John Carlson ahead of July 1. Even with the moves that await, they can still hold their heads high knowing the trade-off that took place.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @Jacob_Messing.