Caps Drub Sharks, 8-3

Craig Smith and Alex Ovechkin scored twice each, and all three Caps defensemen skating in their first games with the team contributed on the scoresheet on Saturday afternoon in San Jose, helping the Caps shake off a slow start in an 8-3 romp over the Sharks.

Rasmus Sandin had three assists in his first game in a Caps' sweater, Gabriel Carlsson had a pair of helpers in his first game with Washington, and Vincent Iorio recorded his first NHL point in his first NHL game, picking up the primary helper on Ovechkin's second goal of the game.
Washington struck for four goals in the second period and four more in third, netting eight of the game's last nine goals after falling down by a pair in the opening frame. Nine of the Caps' dozen forwards and four of their six defensemen picked up points in Saturday's victory.
"I thought it was really good, just the response after the first period," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Guys came out and played a much better brand of hockey again and chipped away at it. You're able to score some goals in the second and get some life from that, and then just push on from there. I thought the guys jumping in had a really nice game."
The first period didn't go the Caps' way at all; they fell down by a pair of goals and didn't spend much time with the puck. At the end of the opening stanza, Washington found itself on the wrong end of a 20-9 disparity in even-strength shot attempts, a 20-5 difference in shots on net, and a 2-0 deficit on the scoreboard.
San Jose's Tomas Hertl started the scoring with a power-play goal at 12:03 and Alexander Barabanov doubled the Sharks lead to 2-0 with a net front strike at 15:30.
Laviolette made a slight line adjustment in the second, flipping right wings Smith and T.J. Oshie in the middle six. Just ahead of the midpoint of the middle period, the Caps shook off their doldrums when Smith scored a rush goal from the right circle, converting a good feed from Dylan Strome to make it a 2-1 game at 8:46.
Less than three minutes later, the Caps drew even with another rush goal, this one from Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Seconds after a Nic Dowd draw win in the defensive zone, Aube-Kubel carried the puck out. After feeding Dowd in neutral ice, Aube-Kubel caught a return feed from Connor Sheary and tucked it under Kaapo Kahkonen at 11:30.
Biting the hand that once fed him, former Shark Matt Irwin put the Caps on top to stay at 15:28 of the second with a clapper from the left point. Carlsson collected his first point in a Caps' sweater on the Irwin goal.
Smith netted his second of the game and the period with just under a minute left. Initially, the officials ruled "no goal" on the play, believing that Smith punched the puck home with his glove hand. But he essentially bunted it in, as replays showed, and the goal enabled the Caps to take a 4-2 lead to the room at second intermission. Sandin recorded the first of his three helpers with the primary assist on Smith's second goal.
Both Smith and Sandin attributed the second period eruption to the Caps starting to move their feet in the middle frame.
"We made a few adjustments and wanted to move our feet a little bit more and be a little bit more aggressive," says Smith. "I think that turns into some turnovers and playing with speed, and ultimately you get a good look at the net. We put some good shots on net."
"I think we just started moving our feet," says Sandin. "We didn't want to have as many turnovers, and we took care of the puck in a different way, and obviously capitalizing on our scoring chances as well."
Iorio drew a clipping penalty on Kevin Labanc early in the third, and Oshie - with secondary help from Sandin - scored just five seconds after the Sharks winger was seated, making it a 5-2 game at 5:50 of the third. Sharks coach David Quinn was given a game misconduct for arguing the call on Labanc, and he exited down the tunnel for the remainder of the afternoon at that point.
After the Sharks bit back on a Nico Sturm one-timer at 9:02, the Caps responded nine seconds later to restore their three-goal cushion at 6-3, Ovechkin netting his first of the game off the rush, scoring from the right circle as both Smith and Aube-Kubel had done before him.
Ovechkin netted another at 16:05, a chip shot from down low with help from Iorio and Sandin.
"I never thought I'd dream of that," says Iorio of collecting his first assist on an Ovechkin goal, the 835th of the captain's illustrious career. "But it's pretty cool. He's one of the greatest to ever play, if not the greatest. I look up to him, a lot of players look up to him, and I'm happy."
With 2:30 left, Sonny Milano forced a turnover deep in Sharks ice, then fed Strome for the final goal of the game.
"I thought it was awful out there in the first period," says Sandin. "I had no idea what I was doing out there sometimes. But as a team, we stepped up in the second and third period and we played really well. It was a lot of fun out there and nice to get the win."
San Jose ended a seven-game homestand on Saturday, finishing 1-5-1.
"We've got to refocus to play 60 [minutes] instead of 30," says Quinn. "You look up at that scoreboard with 10 minutes to go in the second period, we've got 27 shots and they have seven, and I really liked what was going on. Unfortunately, things unravaled."
Saturday's win gives the Caps consecutive victories for just the second time in calendar 2023.
"We started to do everything quicker in the second and third period," says Laviolette. "The game's a fast game if you don't play it fast and you're second everywhere."