The Washington Capitals finished their suite of California games with a humble win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night. Despite being halfway through the roadtrip, the Caps team was rested and reinforced by the returned TJ Oshie and Nic Dowd.
Conor Sheary scored just two minutes into the game, then Alex Ovechkin converted a power play later in the same frame. After a scoreless second period, Sheary got his second of the night, falling in the process. Alex Ovechkin got the empty netter as Ilya Samsonov locked it down at the other end of the ice.
Caps win!
- Alex Ovechkin‘s power-play goal was his first from the Ovi Spot this season. His earlier PPGs had come from closer up. Big ups to John Carlson for actually giving Ovi a clean pass for the first time since the Trump administration. With his two goals, Ovechkin’s at 14 on the season and 744 in his career. He’s now just two power-play goals short of Dave Andreychuk’s NHL record of 274.
- Fourteen goals is great, but Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl is at 18 in 17 games. The goal-scoring title might be out of reach this season.
- The Caps looked rested and focused in the first period, but they got sloppy in the second, spending most of it in their own zone. And that was before Carl Hagelin got a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Sharks Jonah Gadjovich.
- Also maimed in this one was Sharks forward Jonathan Dahlen, son of Ulf, who appeared to suffer an arm injury in an encounter with John Carlson. He did not return to the game.
- That makes back-to-back shutouts of incorrigible nephew Ilya Samsonov. This came much easier than that 34-save affair with the Kings.
These late night West Coast games are really agreeable to Samsonov. My sense is he is normally just getting out of bed about this time. Eastern Time Zone is just too blanking early.
— Bill Thompson (@bthompson_bill) November 21, 2021
- After a bit of a scoring slump during evens, Conor Sheary got two tonight, including that cool shooting-while-falling one late in the third. I really like his playstyle and how it complements the rest of the team.
- Aliaksei Protas recorded his first NHL point, a secondary assist, on Conor Sheary’s goal. He very nearly added his first NHL goal, but Daniel Sprong crashed the net a bit too hard.
- Nic Dowd seemed fine to me in his return from injury, killing penalties (thanks Hags) and clocking above-average minutes. TJ Oshie added dynamism to the power play, but perhaps he was saving his highlights for Sunday in Seattle.
A colder color scheme for @JoeBpXp tonight #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/oG19iM33mH
— good tweet pete taco emoji (@peterhassett) November 21, 2021
A bit of an uneven effort, but that’s still a clean win. Plus, Ilya Samsonov is now protecting a big shutout streak, so I guess someone just cranked the knob labeled goalie drama back into the red zone.
One more late-night game to go, and it’s in Seattle. I’m looking forward to it, and then I’m looking forward to this road trip being over.
