The San Jose Sharks continued its three-game homestand by hosting the Washington Capitals in a Saturday night game at the SAP Center.
Let’s rewind a minute to when San Jose blanked Washington 5-0 on Oct. 13. Five players scored and goalie Martin Jones made 33 saves for his second straight shutout in his third game with the Sharks. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was scratched after he missed the morning skate and center Nicklas Backstrom didn’t play because of an injured hip.
Washington has played an NHL record 12 consecutive one-goal games and are 8-3-1 in those games, including a 4-3 overtime loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. However, the Caps didn’t notch their 24th straight road win tonight nor did they tie their record for most road wins in a season since the 2009-10 season, when they won the President’s Trophy.
The Sharks played its second in a stretch of nine of 10 games at home, where it’s 12-15-3 after a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
The Sharks got on the board first, thanks to Joe Thornton, who scored his 16th goal of the season at 9:16 to give his team a 1-0 lead. Brenden Dillon (6) and Tomas Hertl (20) were credited with the assists. San Jose outshot Washington 11-9 after 20 minutes of play. Both teams committed one penalty apiece.
The Capitals tied the contest 1-1 early in the second period, as T.J. Oshie scored his 21st goal at 1:21 of the power play. Nicklas Backstrom (45) and Alexander Ovechkin (21) were credited with the assists. The Sharks regained a 2-1 lead when Joel Ward passed the puck to Patrick Marleau, who made a wrist shot, a short-handed goal into the net. Justin Williams helped his team tie the game at 2. Evgeny Kunetsov and Andre Burakovsky generated the two assists on Williams’ 20th goal of the season at 10:12.
Washington outshot San Jose 12-7 after 40 minutes of play. The Sharks committed three penalties whereas the Caps only committed one.
A power-play goal by Joe Pavelski put San Jose ahead 3-2 just 49 seconds into the third period. Brenden Dillon made it 4-2 Sharks with his second goal of the season. He’s a quiet defenseman, but has tallied eight points on two goals and six assists as of Saturday. Brent Burns finished the game by shooting the puck from center ice for an empty-net goal, expanding the lead to 5-2 at 19:16. No penalties were committed in the third.
San Jose exceeded the Caps with a 5-2 win in front of an energetic, sold-out crowd at SAP Center. The Sharks (38-24-6) are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. In the Pacific Division, they’re currently third place, one point behind the second-place Anaheim Ducks and three points behind the first-place Los Angeles Kings.
Anaheim has lost three straight games, the last defeat being a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center. Meanwhile, Los Angeles fell 2-1 to the Devils at Staples Center on Saturday night.
Notes:
Sharks recalled forward Michael Haley from the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday.
Up Next: Sharks host the Boston Bruins Tuesday at 7:00 pm PT on NBCSN, NESN.
