San Jose Sharks right wing Colling Graf (51) celebrates his goal with teammates left wing Pavol Regenda (84) and others in the second period at the Capital One Center in Washington DC on Thu Jan 15, 2026 (AP News photo)
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks defeated the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Thursday. Zack Ostapchuk, Collin Graf and Pavol Regenda scored for the Sharks. Alex Nedeljkovic made 21 saves for the win. Dylan Strome and Ryan Leonard scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson made 23 saves in the loss.
After the game, Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov referred to San Jose’s 7-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, saying:
“Much better game than the last game against Vegas. We managed the puck the right way. I would say in the third we kind of gave up a little bit, some pucks around the defensive zone, kind of some soft plays. So there’s always room to learn, to get better. But it’s a tough road trip and it’s good to get the first win today.”
The first period was scoreless, with the Sharks outshooting the Capitals 11-5 and a single penalty called against the Capitals.
Dylan Strome scored the first goal of the game on a power play at 10:58. Alexander Ovechkin passed the puck off the boards behind the net to Strome, who was right at the post to score with a backhand. An assist also went to Jakob Chychrun.
Zack Ostaphchuk tied the game at 13:27 with a snap shot. Dmitry Orlov crried the puck out of the Sharks zone and through the neutral zone, passed it to William Eklund and then chased it down beh8nd the net. He centered it just as Ostspchuk arrived for the shot.
Collin Graf gave the Sharks a lead at 14:53, tipping Pavol Regenda’s shot from the left boards.
Regenda scored the Sharks’ third goal at 16:13. Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf won the puck battle behind the net and Celebrini passed it up to Regenda for the shot.
The Sharks outshot the Capitals 12-4 in the second period, despite taking two penalties and only having one power play.
Ryan Leonard made it a one-goal game with a snap shot high in the slot at 9:11 of the third period. Assists went to John Carlson and Martin Fehérváry.
The Capitals outshot the Sharks 14-3 in the third period, and took the only penalty.
The Sharks next play on Friday at 4:00 PM PT in Detroit against the Red Wings.
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