The Caps found themselves a victim of a persistent problem
over the last month – allowing the first goal and having a sluggish first
period. The Caps started decently
enough, holding the Sharks to a 6-5 edge in shots and a 10-7 advantage in shot
attempts over the first nine minutes and change, despite allowing a Sharks
power play. San Jose scored in that
tenth minute, though, when Joe Thornton put back a rebound of a Brenden Dillon
shot.
The Cap prevented any further first period damage, then they
struck early in the second. With Nick
Spaling off for a high-sticking penalty taken late in the first period and Brent
Burns joining him after taking a delay-of-game penalty 20 seconds into the
second period, the Caps had a 5-on-3 advantage.
They worked the puck smartly around and through the San Jose defense,
Alex Ovechkin sending a cross-ice pass to Nicklas Backstrom at the right wing
wall then Backstrom threading a pass through the middle of the Sharks’ defense
to a wide-open T.J. Oshie for a one-timer than he snapped past goalie Martin
Jones at the 1:21 mark.
The Caps could not complete the power play advantage with a
goal on the ensuing 5-on-4, but they did get another power play chance when Joe
Thornton went off for boarding Dmitry Orlov 3:39 into the period. The Caps managed just one shot on goal in the
first minute and a half of the power play, then they got in their own way and
gave the hosts a shorthanded
chance. Marc-Edouard Vlasic slammed the
puck from behind the net around and up the left wing boards where Orlov and
Justin Williams were stationed for the Caps.
Neither could take possession of the puck, which suited Patrick Marleau
just fine. Marleau darted between them
and started up ice, Joel Ward joining him on a two-on-none break. Marleau gave up the puck to Ward at the Caps
blue line, and Ward returned the puck to Marleau, who chipped it up and over
goalie Philipp Grubauer’s pad for the shorthanded goal to make it 2-1, Sharks,
5:14 in the period.
Washington tied the game five minutes later on a bang-bang
play. Andre Burakovsky glided down the
left wing with the puck, dropping it off for Evgeny Kuznetsov in the
circle. Kuznetsov took one step and
ripped a pass to the top of the crease, where Williams was waiting to redirect
it past Jones to make it 2-2 at the 10:12 mark.
Just before the end of the second period, the Caps had a
chance to take the lead into the locker room when Jay Beagle, who was slashed
by Brent Burns as he was closing on the Sharks’ net, was awarded a penalty
shot. Beagle’s attempt was poke-checked
away by Jones, and the Caps had to be satisfied with going to the second
intermission tied with the Sharks.
San Jose ended the competitive portion of the evening early
in the third period, scoring a pair of goals barely two minutes apart in the
first three minutes. With Kuznetsov off
for a hooking penalty he took late in the second period, the Caps were chasing
the Sharks and the puck around in their own zone when Joe Thornton eased the
puck down to Joe Pavelski, who had worked himself behind the Caps’ defense. Pavelski lifted a backhand that Grubauer
misplayed off the bottom of his blocker and into the net to give the Sharks the
lead they would not relinquish a third time.
With the echo of the goal horn still reverberating in the
arena, the Sharks struck again, Brenden Dillon throwing a harmless looking shot
from the top of the offensive zone that sailed through a screen and past
Grubauer’s right shoulder to make it 4-2 just 2:51 into the period.
That goal took whatever fight was left in the Caps out of
them, and the Sharks added an empty net goal by Burns in the final minute for
the final 5-2 margin.
Other stuff…
-- The loss left the Caps 2-1-1 on their four-game road
trip, which by most measures would be considered a successful trip. However, the Caps are now 5-4-1 in their last
ten games, have been out-scored by a 27-24 margin, and are just 25-for-31
killing penalties (80.6 percent).
-- How bad has it been lately? When San Jose scored in the first period, it
was the 13th time in the Caps’ last 15 games they allowed the first
goal of the game, and in that same span of games they have been outscored in
the first period, 17-4.
-- Philipp Grubauer did not have a great game. Maybe it was coming. In his last dozen appearances he was 6-3-0 (three
no-decisions), 1.60, .946. This was just
the third time in his last 13 appearances he allowed more than two goals and
just the fourth time in that span that he allowed more than one.
-- After being shut out by the Sharks, Alex Ovechkin is now
five games and counting without a goal, his longest drought of the season.
-- The Caps took it on the chin in the faceoff circle,
winning just 21 of 58 draws (36.2 percent).
Take away Jay Beagle’s 6-for-8, and it looks a lot worse (30 percent).
-- An indicator that their heads might not have been in the
game? Justin Williams – not Alex
Ovechkin – led the team with six shots on goal.
Jay Beagle was next with four. No other Cap had more than two.
-- Patrick Marleau’s shorthanded goal was the fourth allowed
by the Caps this season. Eight teams
have allowed fewer.
-- Bad omen…. Yes, Matt Niskanen was getting to the end of a
shift when he went behind the net in the first period to get the puck, and yes,
he was nailed by Joe Thornton went he reached it. But he took the long way around from behind
the net, allowing Thornton to get inside position, and then when Thornton set
up in front of Grubauer, Niskanen looked sluggish in engaging him. It was a recipe to allow Thornton time to
whack in a rebound for the game’s first goal.
-- Even the bright spot for the Caps in this game dimmed
somewhat. The Caps recorded a power play
goal for the seventh time in nine games (8-for-26/30.8 percent), but their
inability to convert the 5-on-4 after scoring at 5-on-3, and allowing a
shorthanded goal on another power play shortly after the first 5-on-4 expired were
momentum killers.
-- It has become a tired theme. San Jose out-attempted the Caps at 5-on-5 in
the first period, 23-16, and carried a 1-0 lead to the locker room. The Caps did better in the second, finishing
with a 16-9 edge in shot attempts and dominating the scoring chances by a 10-2
margin (5-0 in high-danger scoring chances).
What they could not do was close the deal in the third period, the
Sharks finishing with a 17-9 edge in shot attempts, a 10-3 edge in scoring
chances, and a 3-0 advantage in goals (numbers from war-on-ice.com).
In the end…
Don’t look now, but the Caps are pretty ordinary at the
moment. Five wins in their last ten
games, getting outscored, possession not impressive (50.2 percent Corsi-for at
5-on-5). Over an 82-game season it is
bound to happen, and this is still a team that has not lost consecutive games in
regulation all year. Then again, it took
an herculean effort to claw back against the Kings with three third period
goals in Los Angeles to gouge out a point in that game before last night’s loss
in San Jose.
Nine goals allowed in consecutive games ties the season high for the Caps (oddly enough, also in a 4-3 overtime loss and a 5-2 loss, to the Philadelphia Flyers on January 27th and to the Florida Panthers on February 2nd, respectively). The Caps have a chance to get their heads on straight with a pair of home games next week before they head into a stretch of six road games in eight contests. It’s time to put the indifferent-looking play of the last month behind them.
Nine goals allowed in consecutive games ties the season high for the Caps (oddly enough, also in a 4-3 overtime loss and a 5-2 loss, to the Philadelphia Flyers on January 27th and to the Florida Panthers on February 2nd, respectively). The Caps have a chance to get their heads on straight with a pair of home games next week before they head into a stretch of six road games in eight contests. It’s time to put the indifferent-looking play of the last month behind them.
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