Sharks 2021-22 Game 43 Recap: Sharks 4, Capitals 1 (1/26/22)

 The Sharks begin their final road trip on the East Coast and before the all-star break on a high note as they get a huge win over the Washington Capitals 4-1. 

This is a much-needed win for the Sharks after they dropped their previous two games and seemed to be trending in the wrong direction. The Sharks scored the first goal of the game in the first period by Noah Gregor breaking his 20-game scoring drought, with assists from Brent Burns and Alexander Barabanov. 

The Sharks extended their lead to two in the second period on Nicolas Meloche’s first NHL goal, which was assisted by Matt Nieto. 14 seconds into the third period, the Capitals scored their only goal of the game via Daniel Sprong right off of the face-off. Later in the third, the Sharks added two more via Jonathan Dahlen and an empty-netter from Andrew Cogliano. Timo Meier, Nick Bonino, and Logan Couture each collected assists on the Sharks’ last two goals of the game. The Sharks are now 15-0-0 when leading after two periods.

Right as the game ended, Jonah Gadjovich and Garnet Hathaway dropped the gloves and began throwing haymakers at each other, which went on a little longer than I had expected. 

James Reimer was absolutely fantastic against the Capitals, stopping 32 of 33 shots. Some of these saves were incredible, and Optimus Reim was one of the main factors that kept San Jose in this game. In addition, Team Teal was able to get more depth scoring from their bottom-line forwards and bottom-pairing defensemen. This was a significant benefit to the Sharks, and if the depth skaters can step up more often, they will win more games. 

On the other hand, the Sharks announced yesterday that Erik Karlsson underwent successful surgery on his left forearm and will be out for the next 6-8 weeks. This stinks as Karlsson was having his best season in teal so far. However, everyone else on the Sharks will need to step things up so the impact of Karlsson’s absence won’t be felt as greatly and negatively affect the Sharks’ performance down the stretch. 

The Sharks’ current road trip is one of their toughest yet, and with their win over the Capitals to start this road trip, they have more momentum on their side, and the road trip has already been deemed a success. San Jose’s next stop on this road trip is in Sunrise, where they will face the Florida Panthers on Saturday at 3 pm PT in the first of a back-to-back set of games this weekend. 

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App