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Sharks defense lead the way in convincing win over the Capitals |
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The Washington Capitals came into the Sharks Tank hoping to win for the first time since October 1993. It was the Sharks defense who led the charge by scoring three goals in a convincing 5-2 win.
The Washington Capitals came into the HP Pavilion tonight as a team that has seen its share of turmoil this season, they aren’t the squad that draws fear into their opponent before the puck is dropped the way they used to. With the record they have this year and the way they have performed, particularly Alexander Ovechkin the Caps are just as vulnerable as any other team that comes into the Shark Tank.
Bruce Boudreau was fired after four years with the Caps (and three days later hired by the Ducks) and the team’s most talented defenseman Mike Green has only suited up for nine games this year due to injury, which may explain some of the issues this team is having.
Perhaps even more vulnerable than other teams, Washington entered tonight’s game without Ovechkin’s set up man Nicklas Backstrom who was elbowed in the head by Calgary’s Rene Bourque and is out. They lost both games against the Sharks last season 3-2 here and 2-0 in Washington and the Caps are 0-10-1 in their eleven games in San Jose.
The first period was like two heavy weight fighters feeling each other out. There were no scoring chances worth mentioning. Both teams played efficient defense and neither goalie had to save their team’s bacon at any point.
The plays that got the biggest reactions from the home crowd were the snot loosening hits that the Crank Shaft Douglas Murray laid on Jeff Halpern and Jason Chimera. When eastern opponents come to town it usually means more body checks for the Swedish native because they don’t see San Jose often and don’t realize that Murray is as heavy a hitter there is in the NHL.
The second period started with some good scoring opportunities and the players skated better than they did in the first. The way the energy in the building elevated with the drop of the puck you knew there was going to be some scoring.
The Sharks first goal wasn’t pretty but that lucky bounce was the beginning of great hockey, exciting goals, and more momentum swings than a teeter totter. The goals that came after that were things of beauty.
Jason Demers spoke about how the team controls their emotions when the momentum swings the way it did tonight. “It’s a game you want to keep your emotions in check; you don’t want to get too high or too low. Its how the game went and we managed it well when we were on the opposite sides of the momentum swings and took advantage of our chances.”
Brent Burns’ goal that came with the man advantage was a display of his great shot. Burns had hardly any backswing and found the bottom blocker side of the net with a fabulous screen by Patrick Marleau to finish the second twenty.
The third period started the way the second ended, with another momentum swing. This time for the capitals as Joel Ward lit the lamp.
The leaders for San Jose didn’t let that tying goal for Washington sink in for long because seconds later Dan Boyle showed how heady of a player he is by not only keeping the puck in but by starting the game’s prettiest goal.
It was an all-around team effort and everybody contributed in tonight’s win.
“It was a depth night for our hockey club. We needed all four lines, four and six (referring to 4 lines and 6 defensemen.) For some reason we play less of a gamble game and more of a positional game when there is a little bit of fatigue within our game, maybe we’re learning something and need to do that more often.” Is what Coach Todd McLellan said after the game.
Although the Capitals didn’t score another goal they did create some momentum. Antti Niemi thwarted a big opportunity with his right pad to keep the Sharks lead at 3-2 half way through the third period.
Brad Winchester also created some momentum for the Sharks with a big hit on Mike Green who afterwards left the game. The Green hit resulted in a scrum which was started by Ovechkin. He and Winchester took minor penalties for that one which resulted in four on four hockey and another Sharks defense lighting the lamp.
Tonight’s game started the way the Columbus ended, pretty slow and somewhat boring, but the last two periods were exciting jockey and had the crowd glued to the game.
The turning point in tonight’s game was Patrick Marleau’s goal which squashed the momentum that the Capitals got from tying the game 0:44 seconds into the third period.
Scoring details
Team defense was tight in this game so it was no surprise that the first goal was a stray point shot by Jason Demers. The slap shot from the left point tipped off of Mathieu Perreault’s shin pad, the back boards, Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun’s pad with his back turned and in. Jamie McGinn and Torrey Mitchell assisted on the goal.
The Capitals tied things just over a minute later with the man advantage. Dennis Wideman snuck in from the point and buried a one timer shot after he received a cross crease pass from Troy Brouwer. The second assist went to Alexander Semin.
On the Sharks first power play of the game the Sharks capitalized. Dan Boyle and Brent Burns played D to D hockey before Burns unleashed a hard snap shot from the point that bulged the twine with less than :10 seconds to play in the period. Boyle and Patrick Marleau assisted on the go ahead goal.
The Caps came right back with a Joel Ward goal where he beat Brent Burns out of the corner and took a pass from Dennis Wideman and out waited Niemi. Jason Chimera got on the score sheet with the second assist.
The Sharks came right back 0:16 later on as pretty of a goal you will see. It started by Dan Boyle keeping the puck in at the blue line and by doing so he fed Joe Thornton the puck going to the net. Everybody thought Joe was going to turn and shoot until he feathered a back pass to Marleau who while going to the net found himself with a wide open cage. Thornton and Boyle got credited with the assists.
The Sharks fourth goal was all effort by Ready Eddie. Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a pass on his skate while playing four on four hockey and with his third effort he beat Tomas Vokoun while fending off a Caps defender.
The final goal of the night was scored by Torrey Mitchell after the Capitals pulled their goalie for an extra attacker with 1:17 remaining in the game. Assists came from Dan Boyle and Michal Handzus.
Contenders & Pretenders
The Sharks Defensive Core – are the first contenders tonight. From three different goal scorers to a three assist night for Dan Boyle they were great. Murray’s big hits in the first rounded off contributions from everybody.
Patrick Marleau – is playing like a guy who deserves 6.9 million per year, and he is doing it consistently. For a guy who has been with the team for 13 years he is like a fine wine getting better with age and like a fine wine making everyone around him better.
Pretenders
Alex Ovechkin – had some scary rushes tonight but was very predictable which makes him easier to defend. Ovy would have done better by passing the puck more and burying some chances.
Alexander Semin – was soft on the Vlasic goal and let his man go to the net. His play was invisible and I almost forgot he was out there. He reminded of Alexie Kovalev near the end of his career, all skill and no will.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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