Capitals defeat Kraken, spoil Giordano's 1,000th game

WASHINGTON-- Conor Sheary scored two goals, including his 100th in the NHL, for the Washington Capitals in a 5-2 win against the Seattle Kraken at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Alex Ovechkin scored and had two assists, and Vitek Vanecek made 29 saves for the Capitals (30-18-9), who have won two straight after losing three in a row. Ovechkin, with 764 NHL goals, is two from tying Jaromir Jagr for third in history.
"I'm not going to lie, it's more fun to win, especially on home ice, so no complaints there," Washington forward Tom Wilson said. "It was a fun game. The building was loud. We were a little slow to start but we found our feet and guys pulled together and a win's a win."
Joonas Donskoi and Colin Blackwell scored for the Kraken (17-35-5), who have lost eight of nine. Chris Driedger made 20 saves, and defenseman Mark Giordano played 20:51 with two shots on goal in his 1,000th NHL game.
Washington was 2-for-2 on the power play, Seattle was 0-for-3.
"We didn't get enough in the first two (power plays)," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "The third period, we had some looks and a little bit of volume, but we weren't able to generate anything that was real dangerous. They won the specialty teams tonight and, scorewise, that was the difference in the game."
Sheary gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead at 11:48 of the second period when he scored off the rebound of Wilson's shot on a power play.

Ovechkin made it 4-2 47 seconds into the third period with a one-timer from the left circle during a power play. It was his 34th goal of the season.
Sheary scored into an empty net at 17:50 for the 5-2 final.
"It's kind of a weird way to get your 100th (goal), but I'll take it," Sheary said. "I think sometimes those milestones can get in your head a little bit, so to get a nice, easy one was probably maybe the best way to do it and I can put it behind me and move forward."
Wilson gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 11:30 of the first period. Ovechkin lost the puck attempting to get around a defender on the rush, but Wilson controlled it, deked around a defender and slid a backhand past Driedger.
"I saw ['Ovi'] toe dragging, so then it came to me, and I tried toe dragging it and it worked out," Wilson said. "I was just saying in there I might have to go back to my [Ontario Hockey League] days to find one of those, but it's nice when they go in, for sure."

Dmitry Orlov made it 2-0 with a one-timer from the left circle at 12:04.
Donskoi pulled the Kraken within 2-1 at 16:56. Vanecek made a pad save on Riley Sheahan's shot from the crease and Donskoi scored off the rebound. It was his second goal in 55 games.
"I think we've had trouble scoring goals this year, and that's one of the things we've been talking about all year, getting to the net and trying to find those rebounds," Donskoi said. "That's an area we can, for sure, build on."
Blackwell tied it 2-2 58 seconds into the second. Capitals defenseman John Carlson poked the puck away but it bounced off his skate back to Blackwell, who scored from the slot.
"I wasn't worried about it going downhill," Hakstol said. "This group hasn't gone downhill. They haven't gone away. I liked the response. I really liked our work ethic throughout the entire 60 minutes."
NOTES: Giordano played his 51st game for Seattle; he played 949 in 15 seasons with the Calgary Flames. "It was an up and down journey for me to get into this league, but I feel like I put a lot of hard work and a lot of years in and definitely a milestone that I've been looking forward to," the 38-year-old told The Associated Press. "I feel a huge sense of accomplishment, to be honest." ... Sheary also has 100 assists in his 425 NHL games. ... Blackwell has scored in consecutive games after a seven-game drought. ... Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz played 18:12 and had six shots on goal after missing 25 games because of a hand injury. ... Kraken forward Jared McCann played 16:21 and had three shots on goal after missing three games because of an undisclosed injury. ... Ovechkin has scored five points (three goals, two assists) in his past three games. ... Carlson had an assist and has scored a point in eight of his past 10 games (11 points; one goal, 10 assists). ... Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801) scored the most goals in NHL history.