DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT — The Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals received a special welcome home at the airport Friday afternoon.

After the team’s Delta 757 flight from from Las Vegas landed, it taxied past two waiting yellow Washington Airports Authority fire trucks. They blasted huge plumes of water that arched over the aircraft from both sides.

The first players off the plane were Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, who hoisted the Stanley Cup high as they made their way, side-by-side, down the steps of the plane to cheers and applause from a small gathering of airport staff and police.

The players walked from the plane and across the tarmac to waiting buses.

Dulles asked fans not to come to the airport to welcome the team as many have in the past.

In a tweet, the airport says it kept the arrival private at the team’s request.