Kappo Kahkonen (36) goaltender of the San Jose Sharks stopped 22 shots faced 30 and allowed eight goals against the Washington Capitals at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 4, 2023 (photo by SanJoseSharks)
By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 4, 2023
Alex Ovechkin and Craig Smith each scored twice on Saturday, leading the Washington Capitals past the San Jose Sharks 8-3 at SAP Center.
Rasmus Sandin had three assists in his first game as a Capital, Garrison Carlsson had two assists in his Washington debut and Vincent Iorio picked up his first point in his first NHL game.
The Capitals pumped in four goals in the second period and four more in the third after trailing 2-0 at the first intermission. Tomas Hertl scored San Jose’s first goal on the power play at 12:03 and Alexander Barabanov made it 2-0 for the home team at 15:30.
In the second period, after the Capitals made a couple of line adjustments, Smith scored from the right circle on an assist from Dylan Strome, cutting the Washington deficit to 2-1 at 8:46. Less than three minutes later, Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored the equalizer, beating Sharks netminder Kaapo Kahkonen at 11:30.
Former Shark Matt Irwin put the Capitals ahead to stay at 15:28 of the second with a slap shot from the left point. Smith scored his second goal of the game with a minute remaining in the period.
T.J. Oshie made it 5-2 at 5;50 of the third period, shortly before Sharks coach David Quinn received a game misconduct penalty for arguing a call. Nico Sturm scored on a one-timer to cut the Washington lead to 5-3 at 9:02, but Ovechkin scored his 34th and 35th goals of the season in response, followed by a tally from Strome.
Kahkonen stopped 22 of 30 shots, while Washington goalie Darcy Kuemper made 38 saves.
The Sharks have a two-game road trip on Monday and Tuesday, visiting Winnipeg and Colorado.
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