The Sharks made their way east to take on the Eastern Conference's best team in the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night. San Jose played one of their more consistent games of the season, going toe-to-toe with the Capitals throughout the night. San Jose capitalized on a power play chance in overtime to stun Washington 2-1.

The Sharks were on the tail end of a lengthy 4-minute power play that originated at the end of regulation. William Eklund converted on the 4-on-3 power play, which carried over to the extra period after the two teams ended the standard 60 minutes of play tied 1-1.

Eklund one-timed a Mikael Granlund feed from the right circle past Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson to give the Sharks an improbable 10th victory of the season. It was Eklund's 5th tally of the season, but certainly his biggest during the current campaign.

Early penalties really disrupted the flow of things for San Jose early in the contest. The Sharks were whistled for a pair of soft calls before the game reached the 10 minute mark allowed the Capitals to run up their shot count ending the period with a 16-8 advantage in pucks launched at the opposing goal.

Mackenzie Blackwood was rewarded with a second straight start after his 36 save performance in Seattle on Saturday night. He picked up where he left off, stopping all 16 shots he would have in the period.

Blackwood was aided by his teammates who have been noticeably more diligent in getting back to protect the net.

The disparity in shots proved to be meaningless when Tyler Toffoli intercepted a puck in the neutral zone, skated to a point between the top of the two circles and stepped into a shot that beat goaltender Logan Thompson.

Thompson entered the game with a 10-1-1 record this season, so the Sharks were more than happy to hold a lead against a goaltender that many expect to be named to Canada's Four Nations Cup team on Wednesday.

Both teams squared up in the 2nd period, playing to a deadlock for the first 13 minutes of the 2nd period. The Sharks controlled the Washington zone for a 3 minute span in the middle of the frame that caught all 5 Capital defenders in the long end of the ice. San Jose wouldn't score on the lengthy possession, which kept the Capitals close.

Nic Dowd would pot his 7th of the season right off a faceoff in the Sharks zone after Martin Fehervary won the draw and fed Dowd with a pass from the right circle. Dowd made a beeline for the far post where he was there to bang home Fehervary's feed uncontested.

A tripping penalty to Lars Eller at 6:09 of the 3rd period gave the Sharks a golden opportunity to try and reclaim the lead, but the penalty kill was spot on for both teams all night.

Tom Wilson caught Macklin Celebrini with a high stick that cut the rookie, resulting in a double minor with 2:17 left in regulation. Wilson thought Celebrini may have embellished the play, hovering over him as if to challenge him. Only when he saw the blood leaking from the kids nose did he make the trek to the penalty box.

San Jose would not do anything with the advantage to end regulation, but 1:43 of the second penalty carried over into the overtime period where Eklund's magic ended things.

Game Notes:

* Macklin Celebrini was the recipient of multiple recognition from the NHL on Monday. The Sharks rookie was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for November, and the NHL's 1st Star for his 4 goal, 3 assist output.

* The Capitals were without all-world forward Alex Ovechkin who continues to nurse a broken left fibula that he sustained in a game with Seattle last week.

* Logan Thompson has only lost once in regulation in 12 games for Washington this season. While the Sharks didn't beat him in regulation, then did ding him for his 2nd loss beyond regulation this season.

* Washington entered play having converted 8 of their last 20 power play chances (40%). The Sharks killed all 3 Caps power play chances and ironically win it with a power play goal.

* Nic Dowd earned himself a game misconduct following Eklund's goal. A meaningless penalty, but it would appear that sour grapes may have been directed at referees Jake Brenk and Carter Sandlak.