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 The Sharks blew three leads of two goals or more but found a way
to pull put a 6-5 shootout victory over left winger Alex Ovechkin
and the Washington Capitals on Thursday night at the Verizon Center.
Center Joe Pavelski scored once in regulation and netted the only
goal of the shootout to improve the Sharks' record to 3-0-0.
"Right now, we're a team that's winning that needs a lot of work,"
McLellan said. "I guess that's a good thing when you're not playing
as well as you'd like in a lot of areas and you're still winning
games. We'll take it."
Defenseman Matt Irwin scored two goals for the Sharks, and right
winger John Scott and center Tommy Wingels also scored. San Jose
goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 29 of 34 shots and didn't allow a
goal in the shootout to improve to 2-0-0.
The Capitals received two goals from Ovechkin and one each by left
winger Marcus Johansson, defenseman Mike Green and right winger Troy
Brouwer to erase deficits of 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3, but were shut out on
shootout attempts by centers Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov
and right winger Eric Fehr to fall to 1-0-2.
"We gave them too much room," said Backstrom, whose two assists
moved him within two points of 500. "We knew they were going to come
out hard, they always do. On the good side, we came back. We didn't
quit."
After the Sharks went up 5-3 on a second-effort goal rebound goal by
Wingels just 1:37 into the third period, the Caps climbed back into
the game when Ovechkin ripped a power-play wrist shot over Niemi's
left shoulder with 5:46 remaining in the third period.
Sixty-five seconds later, Brouwer walked through the crease and
roofed a shot over his former Stanley Cup champion teammate to tie
the score at 5-5 and send the game into overtime.
"(Washington) is a dangerous team," Pavelski said. "We knew they had
a lot of firepower, a good power play and their shooters put it in
some pretty good spots at times. You want to give them a little
credit, but at the end of the day, we believe in the group in here."
The Sharks stormed out to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals by a pair
of players who were healthy scratches in the first two games of the
season and combined for just three goals all of last season.
Irwin, who entered the lineup in place of rookie defenseman Mirco
Mueller, scored on his first two shots of the game. The first came
just 1:23 into the contest after Sharks center Joe Thornton won an
offensive zone faceoff against center Brooks Laich. Irwin stepped
into a slap shot that sailed past Washington goaltender Braden
Holtby.
Just 3 minutes, 13 seconds later, Irwin and the Sharks were
celebrating again after the 26-year-old blueliner tapped in left
winger Matt Nieto's rebound for a power-play goal and a 2-0 lead.
Irwin's second goal of the night matched his goal total in 62 games
last season and came on just the Sharks' fourth shot.
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A little less than five minutes later, the Sharks scored again.
Scott, a mammoth 6-foot-8, 260-pound winger who entered the lineup
in place of injured right winger Mike Brown, snapped a shot past
Holtby's glove for his first goal since Dec. 27, 2013, and just his
third goal in 237 career games.
"It was nice, especially getting a goal," Scott said. "I don't get
many of those, so it was nice to get that and play a solid game and
get the win."
Scott's goal prompted Capitals coach Barry Trotz to lift Holtby
(three goals on seven shots) for Justin Peters. The backup
goaltender stopped 14 of the 16 shots he faced.
The Capitals staged a furious rally in the second period, getting
goals from Johansson, Green and Ovechkin to narrow the gap to 4-3.
Ovechkin got the Caps on the scoreboard when he drew an interference
penalty on center Tomas Hertl, then threaded a pass that led to
Johansson's first goal of the season. The goal snapped the Sharks'
season-opening shutout streak at 142 minutes, 51 seconds.
Ovechkin finished with two goals, one assist, eight shots, five hits
and two blocks.
"I thought Ovechkin was the best player on the ice today," Trotz
said. "He had a couple goals. He's blocking shots. He's running over
people. He was a beast out there."
NOTES: Sharks D Scott Hannan, who played 55 games for the Capitals
in 2010-11, saw action in his 1,000th NHL game. ... Sharks C Logan
Couture, who was a linemate with Capitals RW Michael Latta when they
were with the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League, played in his
300th NHL game. ... Both teams entered the game perfect on the
penalty kill. Washington was 9-for-9 and San Jose was 7-for-7. The
Capitals gave up one power-play goal Tuesday and the Sharks allowed
two. ... The Sharks continue their five-game road trip on Thursday
night in Uniondale, N.Y., against the Islanders. ... The Capitals
continue their three-game homestand Thursday night against the New
Jersey Devils.
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