Making what was likely his last visit to SAP
Center as an NHL player, Alexander Ovechkin said farewell to a crowd
predominantly donning Washington Capitals jerseys by scoring a pair of goals as
the visiting club from D.C. pummeled the Sharks in a 7-1 route on Wednesday
night. Ovechkin scored the 1st and 5th goals for the Capitals, who converted 4
times in the opening period to put the game out of reach early. The loss was
the worst of the season for San Jose, who lost 6- to Colorado two weeks ago.
In search of his 11th win of the season, Sharks goaltender Yaroslav
Askarov gave up 4 goals on 12 shots, earning himself a quick trip to the
showers before the 1st intermission.
Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky
likely wanted to send a few guys to the showers early the way San Jose allowed
Capitals skaters to roam freely in the Sharks zone all night. It was a
not-so-subtle reminder that the Sharks have much to do in their development.
Teams get blown out all the time, but the Sharks ills were self
inflicted. They tried to play run and gun hockey early and it bit them hard.
The Sharks enjoyed a power play 5 minutes into the game when Anthony
Beauvillier took a hooking penalty in the offensive zone. San Jose had several
good looks but goaltender Charlie Lindgren kept his net clean.
Barclay Goodrow looked like he had Lindgren dead to
rights right after the penalty expired but his scoring chance from the doorstep
hit the left post.
Ovechkin opened the scoring with his 940th career
goal at 8:25 after a pining puck landed on his stick as he floated toward the
left post.
Sonny Milano appeared to score less than 2 minutes later on
a Declan Chisholm feed. Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky immediately challenged
the play for goaltender interference. The replay review deemed that there was
no interference even though it clearly showed that Askarov was impeded from
covering the left side of the net.
The only positive to come from the
play was that San Jose killed the penalty they were assessed for an
unsuccessful challenge.
Ryan Leonard gave the Capitals a 3-0 lead at
the 13:35 mark when a Trevor Van Riemsdyk shot kicked over to him on the left
side. Leonard allowed Askarov to over-commit to cover the near post before
taking a stop to his right and snapping a shot just inside the right post.
Things went from bad to down right awful after Beauvillier was called
for his 2nd penalty of the period. Rather than cut into the Capitals lead, the
Sharks gave up a short-handed goal after John Klingberg coughed up the puck in
the offensive zone and watched Brandon Duhaime deposit a puck after trailing on
the ensuing breakaway.
Warsofsky pulled Askarov following the goal,
perhaps to help his goaltender's goals against average given the shoddy defense
in front of him.
Mario Ferraro took a poor roughing penalty trying to
defend Ty Dellandrea's honor 59 seconds into the 2nd period. Washington showed
why that was a poor choice when Ovechkin potted his 2nd goal of the night at
2:41.
Dylan Strome scored his 6th goal of the season with 26 seconds
remaining in the period.
Ryan Leonard tacked on the extra point a
minute into the 3rd period after collecting a long Matt Roy feed then steamed
up the left side, working his way around Timothy Liljegren before lifting the
puck past Alex Nedeljkovic. The rookie was a college teammate of Sharks forward
Will Smith.
A tripping penalty by Milano put the Sharks on the power
play for the 4th time of the night at 11:36. San Jose finally got on the board
and snapped Lindgren's shutout bid when for Capital defenseman Dmitry Orlov
sent a blast in on net from the point. The puck clipped Pavol Regenda who was
credited with the goal. It was his 2nd in as many games since being called from
the AHL on Monday.
Adam Gaudette extends his scoring streak to 4 games
with the secondary assist on the Regenda goal. Orlov extended his personal
streak to 3 games.
Game Notes: * The Sharks assigned
Michael Misa to the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday in a conditioning
assignment.
* Patrick Marleau and Mike Ricci dropped the ceremonial
face-off before the start of the game as part of the season long heritage
celebration. The scheduling was likely not arbitrary as this was likely the
last time Alex Ovechkin will play in San Jose. By default the Sharks wore their
heritage jerseys.
* Ovechkin recorded his 801st career road point with
his 1st period goal. Road point number 802 came in the 1st minute of the 2nd
period.
* Alex Nedeljkovic was sporting new black pads, which make it
difficult to pick up the puck once it reaches them. Perhaps a psychological
move on the goaltender's part.
* The Sharks now hit the road for 5
games away from SAP Center. They will play in Dallas, Raleigh, Philadelphia,
Toronto and Pittsburgh.
