The Washington Capitals won their third game in a row in dramatic fashion in the third period. They defeated the San Jose Sharks, extending their winless drought to to nine games. They are 0-8-1. The Capitals improve their record to 4-3-1. They are above .500, have nine points, and are just a point back from being in the wild card spot or the top three of the Metropolitan Division.
It’s super early for that. But these points they have gotten over their last three games are huge.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead at 11:40 of the first period with a goal by Luke Kunin. 1-0 was the score after the first period as well as the second period as no team scored in the middle stanza. The Caps outshot the Sharks 12-10 in the first period and 13-11 in the second period.
The Caps would outshoot the Sharks 17-10 in the third period and 42-31 overall. Most importantly, they scored three unanswered goals to secure a 3-1 win.
Dylan Strome got the Caps on the board with his team leading sixth goal of the season. He shot it from downtown right down the middle and it was assisted by Nick Jensen and Hardy Haman Aktell. It came at 2:18.
Tom Wilson gave the Caps the lead at 15:15 with a backhanded shot by the net that bounced in. It was his second goal of the season. Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson were credited with the assists.
Evgeny Kuznetsov put it away at 19:02 with an empty net goal for his first of the season. Ovechkin and Carlson had the assists with that one too.
The Caps are now off from game action until Thursday. They still practiced today. They’re off tomorrow. Then they practice some more before they face the New York Islanders on Thursday night. The game starts at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network.