WASHINGTON

The Stanley Cup Final is a block party for the Washington Capitals.

For all of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s points on offense and Braden Holtby’s saves in net, the Capitals are one win away from blocking their way to the Cup. They’ve gotten in front of almost a third of the Vegas Golden Knights’ shots, blocking with enough smarts and precision to take a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 Thursday.

Washington is blocking in quantity and quality in the final, 86 total, in limiting Vegas to 124 shots on Holtby — many of which he’s seeing and stopping. Even star captain Alex Ovechkin is blocking shots as he gets closer to tasting his first championship.

Blocking shots is a team-wide commitment right now and comes from a season’s worth of skaters, goal-tending coach Scott Murray, Holtby and Philipp Grubauer getting on the same page. The goalies have worked on making sure they can see past blocks to give players the confidence to get in front of pucks.

And in return, Capitals players study opponents’ tendencies and consciously decide when to try to block a shot and not so Holtby isn’t at a disadvantage.

Defensemen have an understanding of which half of the net is their responsibility and which half is Holtby’s. Forwards closer to the blue line have to react quickly, take the right angle and get to the shooter.

The amount of shots the Capitals have blocked through four games seems to be getting in the Golden Knights’ heads. They’re struggling to get quality shots through and resorting to settling for lower-danger scoring chances.

Capitals coach Barry Trotz doesn’t want his players thinking too much about blocking shots or hesitating. He doesn’t care much about Ovechkin’s blocking form or the philosophy of shot-blocking as long as it keeps the puck out of the net.

“If you’re positionally sound, if you’re in shot lanes, block the shot,” Trotz said. “It’s all about will.”

And that will can turn into skill. Washington has been comfortable and confident enough in the final to push the puck up ice quickly, and a well-timed block shot can set the table for an odd-man rush.

“The less shots they have, the more opportunities we’re gonna have in offensive zone,” defenseman Dmitry Orlov said. “Sometimes when you block it, you get quicker pass and you jump on the rush and you got 3-on-2 or 4-on-3.”