Patrick Marleau, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Torrey Mitchell scored
goals in the third period as the San Jose Sharks outlasted the
Washington Capitals 5-2 Saturday at sold-out HP Pavilion.
San Jose, with 50 points after 38 games, has a three-point lead
over both Los Angeles and Dallas in the Pacific Division.
Washington continued to come up short in appearances in the San
Jose building. The Capitals have not defeated the Sharks in San
Jose since Oct. 30, 1993, a 0-11-1 mark since that decision.
SAN JOSE
Patrick Marleau, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Torrey Mitchell scored goals in the third period as the San Jose Sharks outlasted the Washington Capitals 5-2 Saturday at sold-out HP Pavilion.
San Jose, with 50 points after 38 games, has a three-point lead over both Los Angeles and Dallas in the Pacific Division.
Washington continued to come up short in appearances in the San Jose building. The Capitals have not defeated the Sharks in San Jose since Oct. 30, 1993, a 0-11-1 mark since that decision.
The Sharks begin a four-game roadtrip Tuesday in Minnesota against the Wild. San Jose’s next home game is Tuesday Jan. 17 against the Calgary Flames.
San Jose brought a 2-1 lead into the third period. The Sharks were 15-1-3 when leading after two periods going into Saturday’s showdown.
The Capitals pulled even at 2-2 with 44 seconds gone in the third period. Joel Ward jammed home his fifth goal of the season from the low slot off a pass from Wideman.
The hosts needed 16 seconds to regain the lead. Dan Boyle hustled to the right point to keep the puck in the Capital zone. A pass to Joe Thornton in the slow was followed by a behind-the-back pass to an advancing Marleau for the point-blank goal at the one-minute mark.
Vlasic gave San Jose a two-goal cushion at 8:51 with the teams skating 4-on-4. Vlasic settled the puck with his right skate off a pass from Ryane Clowe. Vlasic powered toward the net, seeing two shots stopped by Tomas Vokoun before a third effort was lifted over Vokoun’s right pad for his third goal of the year.
Capital coach Dale Hunter pulled Vokoun for an extra skater with 90 seconds to play. Mitchell finished the scoring when he reached the blueline and deposited the empty-net goal with 1:17 to go.
Antti Niemi made 29 saves to improve to 18-7-4 for the season.
Washington managed a 12-9 edge in shots on net in the scoreless first period. The teams combined for six shots in the first 10 minutes of play.
The Sharks, 12-2-1 when scoring the first goal entering Saturday’s game, snapped the scoreless run 5:15 into the second period.
Jason Demers, coming off a two-assist game Thursday, earned his second goal of the season. His low blast from the top of the left circle was wide left of the net. The bounce off the endboards resulted in the puck sliding into the crease, eventually kicking off the left skate of Vokoun and across the goalline for the 1-0 San Jose edge.
The Capitals, seeking a fifth consecutive win and a share of eighth place in the Eastern Conference, needed 26 seconds of power play time to tie the score at 6:37 of the second period. Troy Brouwer, with the puck in the left corner of the San Jose zone, fed an unmarked Dennis Wideman at the inside edge of the right circle for a one-timer past Niemi.
When Wideman went to the penalty box for high-sticking Benn Ferriero with 43.8 seconds left in the second period, the Sharks used most of the remaining time in the period before emerging with a 2-1 lead.
Defensemen Brent Burns and Boyle played catch along the blueline before Burns rocketed a shot inside the right post for his seventh goal of the year with 8.2 seconds left.
