SAN JOSE -– One of the more impressive stats when it comes to the NHL-leading Washington Capitals is that they’ve suffered just 13 regulation losses. That’s seven fewer than any other team in the league.
One of those 13 came courtesy of the Sharks. Way back on Oct. 13 at Verizon Center, San Jose cruised to a 5-0 shutout win in what was just the second game of the season for Washington and third for the Sharks.
That game, though, isn’t one that coach Pete DeBoer is going to examine too carefully ahead of Saturday’s rematch at SAP Center. After all, the Capitals were without Alex Ovechkin, who overslept the morning skate and was therefore kept out of the lineup, and injured center Nicklas Backstrom, one of the best pure passers in the game.
They’ll both presumably be in on Saturday as part of a deep and dangerous Washington lineup that has simply been the best in the NHL to this point, with a 49-13-5 record and 103 points.
“I think they’re a much different team than they were. But, I’d like to think we are, too,” DeBoer said. “It’s a great test for us, and I think our guys should be excited about seeing where we stack up against arguably the best team in the league.”
Paul Martin said: “They’ve obviously set themselves apart from the rest of the league.”
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Joel Ward, who spent four seasons in Washington before signing with the Sharks as a free agent over the summer, has kept an eye on his former club. He agreed that the previous meeting was long enough ago that there wasn’t much reason to dissect it.
But, he also pointed out that the Capitals are much more than just Ovechkin and Backstrom. Goalie Braden Holtby leads the NHL in wins (41), and has a 2.25 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. He’s probably the Vezina Trophy favorite. Up front, third-year center Evgeny Kuznetsov is Washington’s leading scorer with 68 points.
There are also some recent veteran additions, including Mike Richards, Daniel Winnik and Mike Weber.
“They’ve been doing well,” Ward said. “I think a lot of guys have really stepped up, like [Holtby] and [Kuzetsov]. They’ve got a lot of guys that have really picked it up on an already good team.”
As strong as the Capitals have been, the Sharks have been one of the NHL’s best teams in the second half of the season, too, with a 19-6-4 mark since Jan. 9.
Still, their play has dipped a bit since they went on an 8-0-2 run just before the All-Star break. They’ve lost games to weaker opponents in Buffalo, Vancouver and New Jersey, and required goalie Martin Jones to bail them out at the start of this week in a 2-1 overtime win in Calgary on Monday.
They’re also still trying to establish their game at home, where they have lost three of four in regulation and are 12-15-3 on the season.
“We’ve struggled at home to win some games that, in my mind, are winnable games,” Logan Couture said. “We’ve got to start to figure it out.”
Thursday’s 3-0 loss to the Devils ended a string of eight straight games against non-playoff opponents. Perhaps the Sharks were having trouble getting up for teams that simply aren’t as good on paper as they are. That’s been an issue in past seasons.
They know they won’t be able to get away with easing into the game against the Capitals. That knowledge could be beneficial.
“We’ve sometimes shown that we play better against those top teams than we do maybe as far as playing down to teams that have a worse record than we do,” Martin said. “It will be big to come out and let them know that we’re ready to play and give our best effort that we have, especially after the letdown we had [Thursday] night.”
DeBoer gave his team another day off of the ice on Friday, as the Sharks prepare to conclude a stretch of four games in six nights against the Capitals, who haven’t played since a 4-3 overtime loss in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“You’re obviously always looking for perfect conditions, you don’t want to be playing your fourth game in six nights going against them, but that’s how the schedule rolls out,” DeBoer said. “I think we can’t use that as an excuse.”
“Our guys will be excited to play. It’s a great measuring stick for us.”
