At least two of the Capitals were feeling pretty loose, and friendly, before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.
T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen took the Metro to Capital One Arena for Saturday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Twitter users posted photos and videos of the players, along with what appears to be a one-man security escort, standing in a Metro car, then walking through the Gallery Place station.
Holy Hockey! Look who was on my metro car!!! @TJOshie77 on his way to @CapitalOneArena! And Matt Niskanen, too! #ALLCAPS #StanleyCup #ThisIsASignFromTheHockeyGods @NoVa_Caps @russianmachine @Capitals @wmata
“I noticed these two very tall gentlemen in suits. I looked over at them because I saw how tall they were, and I did a triple take,” Caps fan Dana Ziegler (on Twitter as @danadaniello) told The Post. “I couldn’t believe it. I said to my husband: ‘I think that’s T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen. What are they doing on the Metro?’ ”
In fact, it was the two Caps players. They boarded a red-line train at Metro Center and rode to Gallery Place.
“All the fans were very cool about it,” Ziegler said. “They didn’t go and crowd them too much, but there were a lot of well wishes.”
Her husband waved and shouted “Good luck!” to Oshie. The Washington winger waved back and said, “Thanks.”
At Gallery Place, the players were met by a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority employee and led up the escalator toward the arena, Ziegler said.
Added Caps fan and fellow Metro rider Connor Wheeler: “I wasn’t on the same Metro as Oshie and Niskanen, but we ended up at the bottom of the escalators at the same time. They were with security but really friendly with fans and joking around with each other.”
“They were so calm,” Ziegler said. “They were smiling. They were really relaxed. I was shocked to see them among all the people on the Metro, but they were calm, cool and collected and ready to go. I think that’s a good sign. That might bode well for the game tonight.”
The street closures around Capital One Arena might be to blame/thank for Oshie and Niskanen’s ride over. The players’ parking tunnel at 6th and G streets is right in the teeth of some of those closures.
But on a warm day in the District, and in a train car full of red jerseys, it must have been a nice time for Oshie and Niskanen to stretch their legs.
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