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Takeaways From Washington Capitals 2-1 Loss To The San Jose Sharks

By Jon Sorensen·
Photo: X/@Capitals

The Washington Capitals were looking to prove that last Friday’s 5-0 whitewash against the Edmonton Oilers was just a fluke. They had that chance against the San Jose Sharks, but unfortunately things didn’t go as planned. While the score says that the Capitals fell to the Sharks, 2-1, the reality is that the Caps played well enough to win. They just simply could not beat Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who stopped 33 of 34 Washington shots. 

“We did a lot of good things but just felt a little bit eerily similar to the start of the year where we’re just not able to make that last play, find that last goal to be able to break through and score maybe three or four in a game and we’re searching for two,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the game.

Here is what stood out. 

Power Play Not Converting; But Finally Good Looks

Outside of the Capitals’ recent success, nothing has been talked about more than the power play. After going 0-for-5 against the Oilers, Carbery officially said, “we have to start from scratch.” There was going to be a change because of the absence of T.J. Oshie, but the formation itself looked the same.

But the execution was very crisp and puck movement was quick. 

“I think we had really good movement. I don’t think we were trying to be too cute. We were kind of getting pucks on net and recovering them,” Connor McMichael said. “We just kept it simple, and it seemed to work out.”

Alex Ovechkin finally got a clean shot from his office, but the puck rang off the post. 

The Capitals captain only has one goal on the man-advantage so far this season. Meanwhile, Ovechkin sent a perfect shot-pass to the middle for Tom Wilson and the puck almost crossed the line, but Blackwood somehow kept it out.

The third power play is where it gets frustrating. The Capitals hit the iron twice on some perfect passing sequences. This play was very similar to the one back in the first period, where Blackwood robbed Wilson at the netmouth.

“It happens quick, and those pucks got to be in the back of the net. Those are two big moments. If those go in it’s a different game,” Wilson said. “[I] take responsibility for that. You got to find a way to capitalize [when] you’re out there on the power play. Guys are snapping it around, made a lot of good plays, we just gotta put that in the back of the net.”

The Capitals had eight scoring chances on the man-advantage. However, the power play is now scoreless in 11 straight games and remains dead last in the NHL at 5.7%. 

Philly Philly!

Matthew Phillips slotted on the second line with Oshie being out of the lineup and he made his case to stick around long-term. Right from his first shift of the game, he was engaged. He chipped a puck along the boards to try and start a breakout, but unfortunately, he did not have a teammate near him to receive the pass. 

Phillips continued to buzz throughout the first frame and found himself in prime scoring position at the halfway point of the opening stanza.

One thing that was subtle, but important, was mid-way through the second period on Dylan Strome’s scoring opportunity. The only reason why Strome came away with the puck was because Phillips got a piece of the stretch pass from the San Jose defender. That settled the puck down for Strome to carry it into the zone.

The 5-foot-8 forward finished the night with 12:19 of ice time and three shots on goal. He also created four scoring chances. Carbery said that he was solid and also liked his play along the wall.

Evil Posts; Mackenzie Blackwood the difference

The bounces were not in Washington’s favor all night long. The Caps easily could have gotten out to a big lead, but it was a combination of two things: Blackwood being a brick wall, as mentioned earlier, and the red metal that holds the white meshing.

“That’s the game of hockey. Sometimes it’s just not gonna go your way,” McMichael said. “[Blackwood] played well tonight, but at the end of the day, it’s on us.”

The Capitals had 24 scoring chances at even-strength, five of which were in the high-danger category.

“We’ll look at all the different shots and traffic and rebounds. I feel like I’ve talked about this ad nauseam of like, when we leave games and you’re like, Mackenzie Blackwood again, just made a bunch of good saves,” Carbery said. “So we have to just find a way to break through. For whatever reason, we just haven’t hit our stride offensively. No one in our lineup and our top-six are really clicking to be able to finish. It’s tough to win in this league when you don’t make that last play and can get two or three goals a night from different guys that can capitalize or beat a goalie clean.”

Notable Numbers and Observations

  • John Carlson had an outstanding game defensively. The best play he had was in the first period. The Sharks were buzzing, and Darcy Kuemper was way out of his net and could not slide across, but luckily Carlson kneeled down to stop the puck. 
  • Darcy Kuemper was really solid and the Caps did a pretty good job in front of him too. He made 21 saves. 
  • The Capitals have allowed at least one power-play goal in three straight games. The PK was 2-for-3 tonight. 
  • Each team had 13 blocks 
  • Washington outshot the Sharks 34-23
  • The Caps had an xGF of 3.59 in all situations and 2.2 at five-on-five. 

Up Next

The Capitals will continue their California road swing on Wednesday, Nov. 29 against the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 p.m. EST.

By Jacob Cheris