The Capitals slide out West ended tonight against the San Jose Sharks. With a much-needed win, they put a little more distance between themselves, the Flyers and the Penguins in the playoff race.
The Caps and Sharks remained scoreless through the first period. The Good Guys broke the drought late in the second with a blistering slapshot from Nicklas Backstrom, putting the Caps ahead 1-0. Lars Eller extended that lead in the third with an empty-netter.
Caps beat Sharks 2-0.
- The Capitals outshot the Sharks 26-24 through the three periods and looked solid throughout. Philip Grubauer made some superhuman stops and earned his second shutout of the season.
- The Capitals also out-attempted (55-47) and out-chanced (29-20) the Sharks at five-on-five. They even had more high-danger chances (12-7).
- Jakub Vrana had a fantastic attempt on net during the first period. Young Jake has been heating up lately, and sits fourth in goals scored by a Caps rookie since 2001-02 with 12.
- Tom Wilson broke his nose after taking a puck to the face in Thursday’s LA Kings match up, according to Joe Beninati. He also received several stitches. He took two penalties against Evander Kane. As nothing came from either Power Play, I can’t say I’m all that mad about it.
- Left Shark and Right Shark made an appearance in the stands. Such a shame the actual Sharks gave them little reason to dance tonight.
Left and Right Shark are in the house tonight CC: @SanJoseSharks pic.twitter.com/FqUICXdSZQ
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 10, 2018
- According to Sharks play-by-play announcer, Dan Rusanowsky, linesmen Shane Heyer and Mark Wheler officiated their final regular season game today. Both will retire at the end of the season.
- When Nicklas Backstrom decides he wants to win, nothing can stand in his way. Backstrom sits at 17 goals, just three shy of recording his third consecutive 20-goal season. Pretty sure no one was more excited about Backstrom’s goal than this excellent kitten.
@russianmachine Moe the kitten is very excited about Backstrom's goal! pic.twitter.com/mjfIAiqqSy
— yzma but ugly (@gayshamefest) March 10, 2018
- I live in England and am Welsh. I just discovered there are multiple weird fruit snacks in America. Fruit Rollups. Fruit By the Foot. Gushers. Why.
- Despite a bad pass in the third by Michal Kempny, which almost led to a Sharks tally, I’m really liking how he looks. He’s been a solid addition to the team.
- Lars Eller’s goal tonight marked the 100th in his career. Congratulations, Lars!
- Alex Ovechkin had six shots on goal, but no actual goals. He still sits two away from the Big 600.
#JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsSharks pic.twitter.com/SQDhteErqO
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 10, 2018
Hopefully that performance will give the Capitals some more confidence heading into their home game against the Jets on Monday. Patrik Laine has now tied Ovechkin for a league-leading 40 goals this season. If Ovechkin could take that title back Monday, that would be pretty sweet.
Full Coverage of Caps at Sharks
Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington
