San Jose Sharks Lose 7-1 to the Capitals

On Wednesday the San Jose Sharks fell 7-1 to the visiting Washington Capitals, making their record 9-5-3 at home.

Game Recap and Insights

Before the Capitals got their first goal, the Sharks had several good looks and were outshooting the Caps 8-5. Despite these early looks, the Sharks struggled to generate entries or second opportunities. Yaroslav Askarov started in net.

Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring for the Caps with a wrister assisted by Matt Roy. Just a couple minutes later, the Capitals made it 2-0 with Sonny Milano’s goal, assisted by Declan Chisholm and Trevor van Riemsdyk. After that, San Jose challenged for interference but were unsuccessful, resulting in Will Smith serving a delay-of-game penalty.

From there, Washington’s offense continued to feed with Ryan Leonard’s wrist shot making it 3-0. Van Riemsdyk and Brandon Duhaime picked up assists.

Duhaime earned a short-handed goal of his own with a backhand shot assisted by Aliaksei Protas. The Sharks on a power play but lacking urgency and quick decision-making, made way for Washington’s 4-0 opening period.

After the first 20, the Sharks were down 4-0, being outblocked 8-2, and outhit 6-2. Both teams failed to capitalize on the power play opportunities, with the Sharks 0/2 and Caps 0/1. Askarov was relieved in net, with Alex Nedeljkovic (.842 save percentage) replacing him.

Second and Third Period

At 0:59 into the period Team Teal immediately put themselves shorthanded when Mario Ferraro took a roughing penalty. San Jose managed to kill it off, but Ovechkin struck again at 2:41 with a slap shot.

Less than 30 seconds left in the second, the Capitals outshot the Sharks 25-17. Dylan Strome had a sick tip-in goal with Matt Roy and Leonard getting assists.

Leonard got an insane fourth point for himself, scoring on a speedy backhand at 1:03 and making it 7-0.

Team Teal went to the power play but again failed to convert. Third period was penalty-heavy, with the Caps taking a minor at 11:36.

San Jose’s lone goal came from Pavel Regenda in his second game as a Shark this season. Dmitry Orlov and Adam Gaudette earned assists. Regenda’s tip-in was challenged for goaltender interference, but the call remained. Ovechkin served the delay-of-game.

For the last seven minutes, neither team scored and the Sharks closed out the game with a 7-1 loss. San Jose ended with 23 shots on goal compared to Washington’s 30. Washington also blocked 16 shots compared to the Sharks’ 6, limiting Team Teal’s ability to generate pressure.

San Jose now heads into a stretch of five road games from Friday until Dec. 13. Their trip opens with a matchup against the Dallas Stars (18-5-5), before continuing against Carolina, Philly, Toronto, and Pittsburgh.

With five games in nine days, the Sharks will look to recalibrate and respond quickly with a more complete effort.

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Featured image courtesy of San Jose Sharks on NHL.com  

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