Capitals end Sharks’ winning streak at 6
The team the Sharks beat in dramatic fashion to start their six-game winning streak ended it Thursday night at SAP Center.
The Washington Capitals scored five unanswered goals to beat San Jose 5-1 and gain redemption for a 7-6 overtime loss on Jan. 22. It was on that night on the road that the Sharks scored with one second left in regulation before getting an overtime winner to snap a three-game losing streak.
And they had not lost since, taking over first place in the Pacific Division while outscoring opponents 30-16 during their run.
“They were hungrier and they were a little better than us tonight,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “We’ve had some pretty good nights in the last month, but tonight wasn’t our best.”
San Jose will look to regroup Saturday against Vancouver, when the Sharks hope to have Erik Karlsson back to refortify a blue line that struggled against the defending Stanley Cup champs. The All-Star defenseman missed his ninth straight game — three before the break and now six after.
“The last three, four games, we’ve been missing him back there,” Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “He’ll be welcomed when we get him back.”
The hosts started with plenty of energy, exchanging chances much like their first meeting, but Washington slowly took control late in the first period and never let up.
“We didn’t compete hard enough tonight,” said Sharks forward Evander Kane, a minus-4 against the Caps. “They won all the puck races, they had their skate legs, we didn’t and they capitalized on their opportunities where we didn’t.”
The league’s leading goalscorer, Alex Ovechkin, scored his 39th of the season at 4:14 of the second period to extend the visitors’ lead to 3-1.
San Jose looked to cut into the deficit with its first power play of the night at 6:05 of the second, but the Sharks failed to register a shot after Washington defenseman Michal Kempny held San Jose forward Lukas Radil.
With the ice tilting in Washington’s favor, the Caps struck again when T.J. Oshie went to the backhand to beat goalie Martin Jones at 18:02 of the second for his second of the night on a delayed penalty.
“We were prepared, we know what their strength is — offensive obviously,” Dillon said. “They have a lot of highend guys; if you give them odd-man rushes and let them control the puck usually they’re going to control the game.”
After the Sharks broke on top with the game’s first goal, the Capitals rallied to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Oshie swooped in to grab a loose puck and, from behind the goal line, ricocheted a backhand shot off Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic past Jones at 3:38 for a 1-1 tie.
Then, at 11:33, Washington’s Jakub Vrana capped a pretty give-and-go with Oshie to wrist his 18th goal past Jones from the slot.
“We have no problem scoring goals, but when we’re at our best we’re playing good defense and shutting those things down,” Dillon said. “And we didn’t do that tonight.”
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead 2:06 after the opening faceoff when Kevin Labanc scored his 11th goal with a blast from the right circle. Joe Thornton keyed the sequence with a cross-ice feed that hit Labanc in stride.
Thornton’s 1,458th career point moved him out of a tie with former Shark Teemu Selanne and alone into 15th place on the league’s all-time scoring list.