WASHINGTON Capitals fans were staring a curse in the face, and were spraying beer at it. It wasnt just a Capitals curse, though which was fair, because it wasnt just Capitals fans daring to celebrate early.Amidst the ocean of red Caps jerseys around Capital One Arena Monday night at the Stanley Cup Final Game 4 watch party, bobbed plenty of Nationals T-shirts and Wizards hats, and fans sat in chairs and on blankets and beach Demarcus Christmas Jersey towels with the burgundy-and-gold logo of the citys NFL team. If the four major pro sports teams were fighting each other for the metro areas fans, you couldnt tell on this night, nor on any night during the Caps playoff run.The faithful were unified in ending the drought: more than 26 years since Washington won Super Bowl 26 after the 1991 NFL season, the last championship by one of the big four leagues in town.MORE:The angst thats created has taken on many forms, some unique to each team, others that cro s fan bases and envelop the whole region.But now, the area is on the cusp of the drought's end, as early as Thursday night in the Caps Game 5 in Las Vegas which would be almost poetic, on the 40th anniversary of the then-Bullets' 1978 NBA championship clincher, the only title by the two franchises that have shared owners and home arenas since the Capitals' inception in 1974.Fans around the arena Monday night were not paralyzed by that angst. They were embracing the joy and all but taunting the sports gods chanting not just Lets Go Caps! and We Want the Cup! but One More Win! and No Game 6!It was bold, presumptuous and gleefully defiant of the multiple ways all four teams, and the Caps in particular, have seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. If nothing else, no one feared the Caps five lifetime series lo ses after leading a series 3-1, as they do against the Golden Knights.MORE: They overlooked the Nationals three fifth-game, first-round playoff lo ses Plaxico Burress Jersey in their brief history in Washington, as well as the Wizards inability to go past the second round of the NBA playoffs since their last Finals trip in 1979, and the football teams one postseason win since that Super Bowl trip.Franchise players have come and gone; Robert Griffin III and Gilbert Arenas were once the most beloved athletes in town. So have stadiums and arenas, uniforms, coaches, executives and owners. Rival cities got to attain the ultimate prize. Baltimore won two Super Bowls. Philadelphia has a Super Bowl and a World Series.You think Cleveland is bad, but at least they broke their losing streak, said Dinh Ngo, a Richmond native who has rooted for all the Washington teams all his life. He laughed, then added, Now nobody else is as bad as us.It was never Washington, and it was everyone but Washington. Its impo sible to ignore, even Rocky Bleier Jersey with the most cliched one game at a time reaction from the team that has a championship in sight.MORE:In past failures you'd feel a lot of anxiety even before you started the playoffs. I think we've gotten past that as a group, Caps coach Barry Trotz said before Game 4. We've gotten past that, hopefully, as a community. Hopefully, we can continue on and hopefully bring something here. I think it'll galvanize all the city and all the other sports franchises in this area, because there are some good ones.And I know the baseball guys are watching us, he added.Players from all three of the other teams (although Bryce Harper, understandably, has attended in Knights gear to support his hometown team). Its worth noting, of course, that the Nationals have only been in town for 14 of the 26 years, yet have contributed an 0-4 postseason series record in that span.As the drought grew, it ate entire generations.MORE:I wasnt even born the last time, Capitals fan Erica Montgomery, from Upper Marlboro, Md., said before Mondays game as she sat acro s from the arena on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery, a popular spot for the outdoor viewing parties. Ive never, never seen anything like this in Troy Polamalu T Shirts my life.I was barely a thought, added her friend, Dante Lewis, also of Upper Marlboro. Weve never had a parade, a big celebration, anything like that. So itll be nice once they finally do it two more games!If they win, Montgomery said.Lewis corrected her, also tempting the drought gods: When, when, when.The generational collision is real the inevitable tipping of the scales to fans who are too young to remember whatMark Rypien, Doug Williams and John Riggins did while wearing the home uniform. They have very little memory of the Capitals 1998 Stanley Cup appearance, either, the only time in that span that a local team reached a championship round.That was seven years before Alex Ovechkin easily the most-accomplished team-sport athlete on any D.C. team in that span played his first game for the Caps.This may never happen in our lifetime again, said Heather Meyer, who came from Woodbridge, Va., for the game with her husband, son and daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, Chase Claypool T Shirts representing three generations of fans.Fate and history were no match for the mood of fans, from all over the region suffering with teams in every sport, with so much baggage theyre this close to finally unloading.Chanting One More Win was irresistible. Related Articles Alex Ovechkin's career-defining moments, quotes and highlights