LAS VEGAS (AP) The Washington Capitals will play for a Stanley Cup championship Thursday night for the first time in 43 NHL seasons. Alex Ovechkin is one win away from carving his name into history at the peak of his incredible hockey career.With a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final and a city thousands of miles away thirsting for its first championship in a generation Jonathan Marchessault Jersey , the Vegas stakes are awfully high for the Caps in Game 5.Ovi still wants his teammates thinking about the Golden Knights, not that silver trophy.”To be honest, I think most of us have never been in this position,” said Ovechkin, who could become the first Russian captain to raise the Cup. ”For me personally, I don’t try to think about it too much what’s going on and just try focusing on different things. But it’s hard.”Exactly what could distract an athlete of Ovechkin’s magnitude from the imminent chance to validate his place in his sport?”Whatever. Cars. Hotels. You know, Vegas.”Indeed, this desert is a strange place to end a drought. But with three chances to get one win, Ovechkin and his teammates want to seize their very first opportunity for the clincher on the Las Vegas ice.With one more victory, Ovechkin would finally have team success to complement his formidable individual accomplishments. The vaunted goal-scorer can also succeed where a generation of Washington athletes have fallen short by leading the Capitals to their first title and the city’s first major pro sports championship in a quarter-century.With his 33rd birthday looming in the fall, Ovechkin understands the opportunity before him and the magnitude of the situation for everyone who has ever worn the Capitals’ jersey.It’s enough to tighten anybody’s grip on the stick, but the Caps didn’t appear overly tight during their workout or in the dressing room afterward.”It’s a great time,” Ovechkin said Wednesday. ”Probably the best time in my life, hockey-wise. We just enjoy it together, this moment. It’s fun.”Even with a commanding series lead Marc-Andre Fleury Jersey , the Caps all spoke of the importance of consistency and seizing the moment after their light workout. Washington has a shockingly lengthy franchise history of playoff collapses, but these Caps promptly won all three potential closeout games in their first three playoff series this spring.”Maybe because we’ve talked about it so much,” Caps defenseman John Carlson said. ”Guys are sick of hearing about it from the meetings. Sick of not getting it done. They all kind of blend together, but I think we have come out with great efforts every closing-out game, and we’re going to need a big one. This is a good team at home. It’s going to take a really good effort to get it done.”The Caps don’t have the luxury of thinking about the minor disappointment of not being at home to secure Washington’s first championship in a major pro sport since the Redskins’ Super Bowl victory in January 1992. Back home in D.C., fans will be cheering on their team at Capital One Arena in a watch party that sold out in about 20 minutes.”I think the history of the organization is definitely an important thing, but we’re focused on this group,” Washington’s Tom Wilson said. ”We’re focused on this year, and obviously once all is said and done or whatever happens, you can look back on it. We want to do it for the city. We want to do it for ourselves.”So far in this series, the Caps have done just about everything well. Washington has scored 16 goals in four games against the reeling Golden Knights, whose charmed expansion season has run short of magic in three consecutive losses.While the Caps focused on changing nothing from their last three efforts, the Golden Knights also don’t believe they need a wholesale change. Coach Gerard Gallant’s team is banking on the resilience of a group that hasn’t lost four consecutive games at any point in their utterly charmed inaugural season.”It’s not the first adversity we’ve faced this year,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. ”You’d rather have the odds in your favor, but I’m thinking about (Game 5). If you start thinking that we have to win three games Nate Schmidt Jersey , sometimes it gets demoralizing. We’re just focused on the next one. … They’re in a better situation than us, that’s for sure. Stuff we’ve done this year has never been done, so I think that’s what we’re thinking about.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals PHILADELPHIA (AP) Cam Atkinson and the Columbus Blue Jackets have picked a perfect time to get on a roll.Atkinson scored a hat trick to lead the surging Blue Jackets to their sixth straight victory, 5-3 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.Oliver Bjorkstand and Boone Jenner also scored for the Blue Jackets, who tied Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division.”We’re playing our best hockey right now and this is when you want to be playing your best hockey,” Atkinson said.After setting career highs in goals (35) and points (62) last season, Atkinson has struggled through much of an injury-plagued 2017-18 campaign. But he is heating up at just the right moment and has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his last 10 games.”Confidence is the biggest thing,” Atkinson said after upping his season totals to 16 goals and 33 points in 55 games.Claude Giroux, Andrew MacDonald and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for the slumping Flyers, who dropped their seventh in the last eight games.”We just need to put it behind us and somehow get our confidence back,” Giroux said.Philadelphia and Columbus are one point ahead of New Jersey, which holds an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.If the playoffs began on Friday, the Flyers would finish third in the division based on tiebreakers while the Blue Jackets would get the first wild card. Both teams have 11 games remaining.Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves, including some big stops early in the third period. He denied Nolan Patrick from close range with a good glove save 1 1/2 minutes into the period and used his pad to stop Sean Couturier a minute later.Bobrovsky’s play has been solid during the winning streak http://www.goldenknightsshoponline.com/authentic-oscar-dansk-jersey , and Columbus has averaged 4.3 goals over its last six games.”I’m not going to overthink it,” coach John Tortorella said. ”The biggest thing is we’ve concentrated on each and every day and tried to play simple and straight-ahead hockey. We’ve scored a few more goals, (Bobrovsky) has been outstanding and we have found a way to win some games.”Atkinson scored into an empty net with 0.8 seconds remaining for this third goal.Most of the scoring happened in the first two periods.Gostisbehere scored just 14 seconds into the second on a power play when his wrist shot from the right circle went under Bobrovsky’s right arm to pull Philadelphia to 3-2.Atkinson responded with his second of the game, a slap shot from a sharp angle on a 2-on-1 break that would turn out to be the game-winner, to put the Blue Jackets back up by two goals with 16:37 left in the second. That was the last straw for Flyers coach Dave Hakstol, who pulled Petr Mrazek after the goalie allowed four goals on 10 shots. He was replaced by Alex Lyon.”He didn’t give up a bad goal tonight, but you look for a timely save and that’s what we didn’t get,” Hakstol said.MacDonald drew Philadelphia to 4-3 with 7:37 left in the second when his slap shot from the slot went off both posts and in.There were offensive fireworks in the first period, too.Columbus produced the first goal with 10:19 left when Bjorkstand scored a highlight-reel goal from his right knee. Seth Jones‘ initial shot was blocked by Jori Lehtera, and Bjorkstand gathered the puck as he was falling down and fired it past Mrazek’s glove side.The Blue Jackets went up 2-0 just 11 seconds later when Jenner scored on a deflection.Giroux’s one-timer from the left circle made it 2-1 with 8:26 left in the period, but Columbus quickly pushed it back to a two-goal advantage when Atkinson deflected Zach Werenski’s shot from the point past Mrazek.The Flyers had two good chances on a power play in the closing minutes of the period, but Bobrovsky extended his left pad to stone Jakub Voracek and then snared Gostisbehere’s slap shot from the point.NOTES: Flyers G Brian Elliott practiced in full pads with goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh at the morning skate. Elliott had core muscle surgery on Feb. 13 and was expected to miss five to six weeks. … Columbus LW Matt Calvert returned to the lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s 5-2 win over Montreal. … The teams ended the regular-season series with two wins apiece. … Giroux received stiches to his upper lip after taking a puck to the face with 14 minutes left in the second period.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.Flyers: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.—