Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the San Jose Sharks by a score of 4-1 at Capital One Arena on Super Bowl Sunday to stay one three point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins (who have three games in hand) and two in front of the New York Islanders (with a game in hand). Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves in the loss.

Washington’s Lines vs. San Jose

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Conor Sheary — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Sonny Milano — Nicklas Backstrom — Marcus Johansson
Aliaksei Protas — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Martin Fehervary

Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: Alexander Alexeyev

Injured: D John Carlson (upper-body, missed 19th straight game, out indefinitely); RW Connor Brown (ACL, 51st, indefinite); LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 55th, indefinite); C Nic Dowd (lower-body, ninth, indefinite); RW Tom Wilson (lower-body, fifth, day-to-day); LW Anthony Mantha (illness, first, day-to-day)

Protas replaced Mantha in the team’s lone line change from their 2-1 win over the NHL-leading Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon.

San Jose’s Lines

Timo Meier — Tomas Hertl — Noah Gregor
Michael Eyssimont — Logan Couture — Alexander Barabonov
Nick Bonino — Nico Sturm — Oskar Lindblom
Evgeny Svechnikov — Steven Lorentz — Jonah Gadjovich

Scott Harrington — Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Matt Benning
Jacob MacDonald — Mario Ferraro

Kaapo Kahkonen
Aaron Dell

Scratched: RW Kevin Labanc, D Nick Cicek

Injured: C Luke Kunin (knee, 23rd, season); D Markus Nutivaara (lower-body, 54th, indefinite); D Radim Simek (upper-body, 16th, day-to-day); G James Reimer (illness, first, day-to-day)

First Period

Scoring

2:54, 1-0 San Jose: Svechnikov wristed one from the right dot glove-side after getting sent down the wing after San Jose picked up the puck at the red line.

SVECHNIKOV STRIKES FIRST 🚨 pic.twitter.com/7ALvAMtxwm

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 12, 2023

Shots: 9-7 Washington

Other Notable Stats: Both teams failed to score on one full power play and tallied six hits. San Jose won 60% of the faceoffs, had two giveaways while Washington recorded three, and led 2-1 in takeaways.

Second Period

Scoring

9:04, 2-0: Barabonov blasted a shot in front of the net after Van Riemsdyk blocked Karlsson’s wrister that was tipped by Hertl from the slot.

🔥 4-GAME POINT STREAK FOR BARABANOV 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9rCArNLr13

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 12, 2023

16:56, 2-1: Kuznetsov swiped the puck off the right half-wall, fought off Harrington, drifted to the cage, and swept a shot past the left pad of Kahkonen in front. The 30-year-old has recorded three points (two goals) in his last three games. With the primary assist, Gustafsson has three in his last three. With the secondary helper, Van Riemsdyk has three points (two goals) in his last three as well. The concussion spotters pulled Kahkonen and Dell drew into the contest following the goal.

Kuuuuuuzzyy

Caps on the board. 2-1 Sharks#CapsSharks pic.twitter.com/IR0SXR3aVN

— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) February 12, 2023

Shots: 21-13 San Jose (including 14-4 in the second)

Other Notable Stats: Washington, who did not score on three opportunities on the man advantage, led 17-10 in hits and 14-11 in blocked shots. San Jose, who scored once on three power plays, won 62% of the faceoffs and led 6-3 in takeaways. Each team posted seven takeaways.

Third Period

Scoring

12:55, 3-1: Karlsson wristed a shot under the crossbar off of a faceoff to Lindgren’s right after the puck bounced off of the boards. It was the 32-year-old’s third point of the game.

ERIK KARLSSON!!!!

His third point of the game.

3-1 #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/7mRfhTpo1t

— JD Young (@MyFryHole) February 12, 2023

17:49, 4-1 (empty-netter): Hertl hunted down a loose puck down the right flank, grabbed it, and skated it for a layup.

Shots: 33-21 San Jose (including 13-8 in the third)

Other Notable Stats: Washington led 23-20 in hits and 22-16 in blocked shots but failed to score on three power plays. San Jose led 9-5 in takeaways, struck once on four power plays, won 63% of the faceoffs. Both teams were on the board for 10 giveaways.

Next game: Tuesday vs. Carolina Hurricanes (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown