San Jose completed a two-game season sweep of the Capitals, defeating Washington 5-3 Monday at Verizon Center.
San Jose took a 1-0 lead at the 12:12 mark of the first period when Joe Pavelski banked a Dan Boyle center-ice shot past Braden Holtby. The Sharks fired 10 other shots at Holtby in the frame, while Thomas Greiss stopped all 12 put his direction.
The Sharks would take a 3-0 advantage in the second period with goals from Pavelski and Patrick Marleau, but Dmitry Orlov scored his second goal of the season at 19:59 of the second to make the score 3-1 after 40 minutes. San Jose would add two in the third period to make the score 5-1, but the Caps fall in the end 5-3. The loss was Washington’s fifth in the last seven games.
The Capitals head out on a four-game road trip Friday with a date in Florida against the Panthers at Bank Atlantic Center at 7:30 p.m. Washington will then head to Tampa Bay to square off with the Lightning Saturday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Mike Knuble, Keith Aucoin and John Erskine were all healthy scratches Monday night. Washington announced the recall of Holtby and Joel Rechlicz just prior to the game.