The Washington Capitals franchise joined the NHL as an expansion team for the 1974-75 season. They won only eight games total that year.

That is a stark contrast of the Vegas Golden Knights, who this year finished their inaugural campaign with a 51-24-7 regular season record and an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.

Tonight was about the Capitals, however, and their superstar captain Alexander Ovechkin winning the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup championship with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Final.

The game remained scoreless going into the second period. The Capitals struck first when 22-year-old Jakub Vrana wristed a shot past Vegas goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury to make it 1-0 at the 6:24 mark.

Three minutes later, former Capital and current Golden Knight defensemen Nate Schmidt deflected a shot past Washington goaltender Braden Holtby to tie the score 1-1. Just seconds after the goal, however, Vegas committed a penalty. On the ensuing power play, a slick pass by Niklas Backstrom found Ovechkin at the side of the net. Ovechkin buried the one-timer to give the Capitals the lead once again.

Vegas responded with a goal from David Perron at the 12:56 mark of the second to make it 2-2. The Golden Knights took the lead with just 29 seconds remaining in the period when Reilly Smith was able to bury a feed from Alex Tuch into the back of Washington’s net on the power play to make it 3-2 Vegas. The goal capped off one of the most memorable periods of playoff hockey in recent memory.

The Golden Knights needed to hold off the Capitals for 20 minuets in order to force a Game 6 back in Washington, but were unable to do so.

Halfway through the third period, a keep in by the Capitals in the offensive zone led to the puck finding Devante Smith-Pelly in front of the Vegas net. As Smith-Pelly was tripping, he was able to shot it into the net past Fleury to tie the score 3-3.

Two-and-a-half minutes later, a turnover in the Vegas defensive zone led to Brett Connolly having a wide open shot attempt in front of the Vegas net. The puck was able to sneak between Fleury’s legs, and Lars Eller was there to brush it into the net to give Washington a 4-3 lead with 7:37 left in regulation.

A furious effort by the Golden Knights to tie it again fell short, and the Capitals poured onto the ice and dogpiled on each other as the final horn sounded.

Ovechkin looked like a little kid on Christmas morning as he touched the Cup for the first time before raising it over his head and taking a victory lap with it around the ice.

Many people go to Las Vegas to try and make their dreams come true, and that’s exactly what Ovechkin and the Capitals did tonight.