Golden Knights visit Capitals for Game 3 on Saturday

Watch Vegas and Washington on NBCSN. Updates will follow here.

The Golden Knights visit the Capitals for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday in Washington, D.C. The series is tied 1-1, and this is an enormous game.

Since the NHL went to a best-of-seven format in 1939, 27 Cup Finals have gone to Game 3 with the teams even, as they are now. The team that’s won Game 3 has gone on to win the series 21 times, or in 78 percent of those series. The last three teams to go down 1-2 in this circumstance have come back to win the series, but still, winning’s a lot better.

Stanley Cup stream and TV schedule Capitals vs. Golden Knights

Game 3 starts shortly after 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. You can stream it with a cable login on the network’s website. This game isn’t on the main NBC channel, though the series will return to regular NBC for Game 4 and stay there until the end.

Golden Knights vs. Capitals Game 3 preview

The basics coming in: The two teams played a wild Game 1 last Monday in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights won a game with a Cup Final-record four lead changes, as both teams struggled to keep the other from getting quality scoring chances. Things tightened up considerably in Game 2, and the Capitals won thanks largely to their goalie, Braden Holtby. They lost star center Evgeny Kuznetsov to injury in the first period, but third-line center Lars Eller elevated his game in the absence of the playoffs’ leading point-getter.

Kuznetsov appears likely to play in Game 3, though the Capitals are calling him a “game-time decision” with an “upper-body injury.” If he plays, that’s great news for the home team, of course, but it’s extra-great news for Alex Ovechkin. The Capitals’ franchise player takes most of his shifts on Kuznetsov’s left wing, and he’s a lot better when his Russian countryman is in the lineup. The two have terrific chemistry and have been adept at springing each other for scoring chances on their line with the more physical Tom Wilson.

The Golden Knights have gotten an uncharacteristically average first two games from their goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury. Through three rounds, Fleury was putting together one of the great postseasons in the history of the sport. He hasn’t been much good so far against the Capitals, letting up a 3.56 goals-against average on an .870 save percentage. Fleury tortured the Capitals for years when he was the backstop for the Penguins. If his new team is to have any success in D.C., it’s a good bet that Fleury has to be its best player.

Stanley Cup odds and pick for Game 3

The Capitals are favorites at home, but oddsmakers have given the Knights a better chance as the last few days have gone on. The Capitals opened as a high as a -167 favorite for this game, meaning you’d have to risk $167 to net $100 on a bet that they’d win. They’re now between a -125 or -135 favorite at most sportsbooks, according to Odds Shark.

The over/under is 5.5 total goals scored.

My pick: The Capitals win in their own building, 4-2. Capital One Arena should be jumping for D.C.’s first championship-round home game since 1998, the last time the local hockey team played for the Stanley Cup. A healthy-ish Kuznetsov, a version of Fleury that hasn’t been quite himself, and a raucous home atmosphere should help the Capitals.