Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks
By Mary Walsh
SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks lost 2-0 to the visiting Washington Capitals at SAP Center Saturday afternoon. Nick Backstrom and Lars Eller scored for Washington, while goaltender Matt Grubauer made 24 saves.
For the Sharks, Martin Jones also stopped 24 shots. Marc-Edouard Vlasic led the Sharks in shots with five, and Brenden Dillon led in hits with five. It was just the second time this season that the Sharks were shutout at home.
After the game, Capitals head coach Barry Trotz talked about Grubauer and keys to the win:
Grubi was really solid. He didn’t have a lot of work the first two periods and then third period he had some work. But they make you nervous, the Sharks. They’ve always had great DNA around the net. They throw pucks and it feels like you’re under a lot more heat sometimes than you really are. But that’s part of their culture. And I thought we handled it pretty well, they didn’t have a lot of great looks and they didn’t have any seconds.
The first period went by without a goal. The Capitals started faster than the Sharks, but they took a penalty. The Sharks came out of the first with a 12-6 lead in shots, with shots from seven different players. Ominously, the Capitals won almost 70% of the faceoffs. By the end of the game, the Caps had won 62% of the faceoffs.
After the game, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer was asked about that statistic. He said: “I think the faceoff circle probably mirrored our game. They were hungrier than us and they won that area of the game, and you know they won a lot of other important areas of the game that we needed to be better in.”
In the second period, the Sharks were on their heels. The Capitals came out faster again. In the first four minutes, Washington outshot the Sharks 7-1. But the halfway mark, the Capitals were up 11-2. At 11:36, Tom Wilson went to the penalty box for the second time after clipping Evander Kane. It did not appear to cause injury to Kane, nor did it injure Washington. The Sharks did not get a shot on goal during the power play.
The Sharks’ woes persisted through the second period. With 1:28 left in the second, Backstrom scored from just above the faceoff dot, sending the puck over Jones’ left shoulder. Assists went to Brett Connolly and John Carlson.
Many thought that the play leading to the goal appeared to be offside. When asked about it after the game, DeBoer said this was not the case.
In all, the Sharks only got three shots on goal during that second period, while the Capitals had 12.
The late second period goal from Washington seemed to wake the Sharks up. They started the third period with renewed urgency. By the ten minute mark, they had a 7-3 shot advantage. That advantage started to slip as the period wound down and the Sharks could not get anything by Grubauer.
With a little more than two minutes to go, the Sharks pulled their goaltender for the man advantage. Soon after, Lars Eller scored into the empty net. Assists went to Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen.
Up Next: The Sharks next play on Monday at home, against the Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 pm PT.
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