One more game. That’s all the Washington Capitals have to win to lift the Stanley Cup and make Lars Eller the first Dane to ever win the coveted trophy.
Eller and the Caps took a commanding 3-1 series lead last night on the back of a dominant 6-2 home win over the Vegas Golden Knights and need just one more game to close out the best-of-seven series.
Eller didn’t get any points last night, but he’ll nevertheless be happy with a formidable statistic that shows that teams that have taken 3-1 series leads in the Stanley Cup finals have gone on to win 31 straight times.
“We’ve given ourselves one of the best possible starting points. My experience is that the final game is the toughest to win. It’ll be hard. They’ll play as if their lives depend on it, because it’s their last chance,” Eller told TV2 Sport.
READ MORE: Eller evens up Stanley Cup Finals
Three chances to win
Eller’s first chance to complete the triumph comes on Thursday night, when the series moves to Las Vegas. If needed, Game 6 will return to Washington DC, while a potential final Game 7 will again be in Vegas.
The Golden Knights won the first game of the series 6-4, but the Capitals have now won three straight – with Eller contributing three points in the Game 2 win.
Waiting for the little miracle
Denmark is holding its collective breath these days as the World Cup in Russia approaches. The reason is that playmaker Christian Eriksen is in danger of missing the first game against Peru on June 16 because his wife Sabrina Kvist could give birth any day now. Her due date was in late May, but the baby has yet to make an appearance, and Eriksen missed Denmark’s friendly 0-0 draw against Sweden on Saturday as a result. Eriksen will most likely miss Denmark’s final friendly against Mexico on Saturday.
Clara clear to the third round
The Danish tennis starlet Clara Tauson continues to impress in her first grand slam tournament, this time with a straight sets win over British opponent Emma Raducanu at the French Open. The fifth-seeded Dane won in convincing fashion 6-2, 6-1 to book a ticket to the final 16, where she will face the tenth-seeded Yuki Naito of Japan. Incidentally, her father Michael saw his best grand slam result come at the French Open back in 1989, where he reached the second round. Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki bowed out of the senior tournament yesterday morning, losing 6-7, 3-6 to Daria Kasatkina. The world number two didn’t play badly, but could not live with an opponent who got 86 percent of her first serves in play.
Superliga schedule finalized
The 2018-19 edition of the Danish Superliga will kick off on July 15 – the date of the 2018 World Cup Final – and the schedule for the season has been revealed. Defending champs FC Midtjylland will take on AGF in the first round, while FC Copenhagen host Horsens and Brøndby travel to Randers. The first New Firm derby will take place on August 12, when FCK host Brøndby at Telia Parken. See the complete schedule here.
No Danish league record at World Cup
Following the confirmation of all the final 23-man squads for the World Cup in Russia, it has become clear that eight of the 736 competing players play in the Danish football league – seven in the Superliga and one in the second tier (see below). The record was set back in 2010 in South Africa when nine Superliga players participated. A new record could have been set, but in the final round of cuts, Denmark omitted FC Copenhagen’s Peter Ankersen, Poland axed Brøndby striker Kamil Wilczek, and Serbia said goodbye to AGF keeper Aleksandar Jovanovic. Interestingly, one of the eight players participating is Edison Flores from Peru – Denmark’s first opponent on June 16.
