Capitals vs Sharks: Season sweep coming, for Caps?

The Washington Capitals look to sweep the season on the San Jose Sharks for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup. What will the game action look like, here is how to find out and what you might expect.

The Capitals were finally able to overcome the Carolina Hurricanes and get the win with a 4-3 score.

This marks the Caps first win against the Hurricanes in the regular season since March 28th last year.

The game started out as expected with the action being a basic stalemate with two well matched teams.

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Finally in the second period the Capitals got a break when a puck ricocheted off one of the Hurricanes defenders by way of a Richard Panik shot.

The lead was extended by way of the Capitals power play with a great setup and tic tac toe action giving Kuznetsov his fourth goal in three games. The Caps would be able to hold the lead until the third period.

In the first minute of the third period, the Hurricanes would find a way on the scoreboard with a deflected shot off of Jordan Staal‘s stick. The Capitals would answer with two more scores to take a 4-1 lead with about 15 minutes left in the game, with a PP goal by Lars Eller and a long overdue score for Jakub Vrana.

A three goal lead should have marked the end of the contest for the Hurricanes. But they wouldn’t go down easy as they would answer Vrana’s score within two minutes of game play. It would stand until approximately the eight minute mark when the Hurricanes would make it 4-3.

This game could have gone the other way with how the stats broke down, with the Capitals being out matched in shots (41-29), faceoff wins (36-22) and PIM (24-10). The Capitals managed to only allow two power play goals with 24 minutes in the box. The lopsided nature of the scorecard was offset by the outstanding play by Samsonov in goal and aggressive offensive pressure from the Capitals forwards. So the Capitals were able to stop the Hurricanes win streak, can they continue that trend against another hot team?

The San Jose Sharks have held their own against some good Eastern Conference opponents over the last week, holding a 2-1 record against the eastern with wins over the Penguins and Flyers while losing to Red Wings. While in their last matchup the Capitals handled the Sharks easily to a 5-2 win on the Sharks home ice, a place the Capitals have always struggled.

The main key to the Capitals success in this game was their ability to stay out of the penalty box. What keys should the Capitals focus on to secure another win and the season sweep?

Next. What does Holtby bring to ASG. dark

With the San Jose Sharks holding the best penalty kill squad in the NHL, the Capitals will need their power play to be the best it possibly can be. They have slipped in the rankings on the power play down to 11th with their recent struggles.

The Capitals might need to lean on their 5 on 5 scoring with their 3rd best in the NHL goal production. With Samsonov getting the call against the Hurricanes look for the Capitals to give Holtby the chance at sealing the win. Hopefully the Capitals will get more scoring from the bottom six, after all Hathaway scored two against the Sharks in their previous game.

Here is how to see the action:

Date: Jan. 5th
Time: 12:30 PM EST
Where: Capital One Arena
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Washington
Radio: WJFK 106.7 The Fan, Caps Radio 24/7
Streaming: ESPN+ has a free 7-day trial that includes live streaming for this game on all your smart devices! Besides NHL games, ESPN+ features a selection of live games from MLB, MLS, Serie A, FA Cup, and EFL. Get in on the action with Live UFC Fight Nights, 30+ Top Rank Boxing cards, Grand Slam tennis from Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open.

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