NHL Gamecenter – Corsica – Natural Stat Trick
Anybody up? The Capitals are California Dreamin’ after tonight’s late match against the Sharks. A flurry of goals in the first period powered Washington to a 5-2 win over San Jose.
Unfortunately, this win does nothing to rid us of the evil that is the Baby Shark song.
Here’s Tuesday night’s Plus/Minus:
Plus: John Carlson continued his stellar season with a goal and two assists in tonight’s game, putting him at 40 points in 29 games. With his 99th career goal, Carlson passed Scott Stevens for fifth-most goals by a Capitals defenseman in franchise history.
Minus: The Capitals didn’t record a shot until midway through the third period. You’d like to see tighter play with the lead.
And now, this…
Ten more notes on tonight’s game:
1. Melker Karlsson draws first blood for the Sharks just 2:33 into the period, scoring on the team’s first shot of the game. If you were sleepy before, that goal horn definitely woke you up.
2. Not to fear – Garnet Hathaway tips in a John Carlson shot and ties up the game 13:31 into the period.
3. Blink and you’ll miss it. Less than a minute later, Jakub Vrana gets his 13th goal of the season to put the Caps up 2-1. Vrana cleaned up the rebound off the post to score on an out of position Martin Jones.
4. After assisting on the first two goals, John Carlson gets his third point of the evening with the Capitals’ third goal in 3:01. Fun fact: this means that John Carlson has more points than the Sharks have Karlssons in the game.
5. Lost in the flurry of goals (and lack of penalty kills), but Carl Hagelin made his return to the lineup. The forward has been sidelined for the past 11 games due to injury.
6. Just the fourth line doin’ fourth line things. Garnet Hathaway gets his second goal of the evening less than three minutes into the second period, cleaning up his own rebound in close to put the Caps up 4-1. Nic Dowd made a nifty little pass to set it up.
7. We’ve got the first penalty of the game midway through the second period. Dylan Gambrell gets called for tripping on Radko Gudas, but the Capitals can’t get past the best penalty kill in the league. Maybe the Sharks should play the rest of the game shorthanded?
8. Oops, I did it again – Jakub Vrana gets his second of the night to put the Capitals up 5-1 with 3:45 left in the second period. Lars Eller makes it all happen with a clean pass from below the goal line and Dmitry Orlov got the secondary assist on V’s 14th of the season.
9. The Sharks sit Martin Jones and Aaron Dell is in net for the third period. The Capitals are playing noticeably looser in the third and the Sharks get a few good looks at Braden Holtby because of it. A rather dour-looking Evander Kane gets the Sharks’ second goal of the night at 13:07. 5-2 Capitals.
10. Evander Kane gets Radko Gudas with a headshot in the late stages of the game. Alex Ovechkin does not like this one bit, and Kane and Ovechkin exchange words. A visibly pained Gudas gets pulled onto the bench and Kane gets five and a game misconduct for elbowing.
Unsurprisingly, the Capitals secure the W. They are now 12-2-1 on the road, the best record in the league this season.
Up next: another late night match against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday at 10 PM.