Sharks vs. Capitals preview: Homestand concludes with visit from Ovechkin
A brief three-game homestand ends with a visit from the Capitals.
Having recently dispatched the Kings and Ducks on home ice, the likely playoff-bound Washington Capitals will try to knock off a third California team as they begin a swing through the golden state. With Alex Ovechkin looking as dominant as ever and new head coach Barry Trotz getting the Caps to play a strong possession game, this looks to be a much tougher test for the Sharks than Adam Oates and Dale Hunter's Washington teams were.
Tale Of The Tape
 | @ |  |
| 28-16-10, 66 points | Record | 28-20-7, 63 points |
| 4th in Metropolitan | Rank | 3rd in Pacific |
| 52.4% | Score-Adj. Fenwick | 50.8% |
| 100.7 | PDO | 99.1 |
| 23.1 | PP% | 20.6 |
| 80.4 | PK% | 81.5 |
7:30PM PST | SAP Center | San Jose, California
TV: NBCSN | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
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Projected Sharks Lineup
Joe Pavelski - Joe Thornton - Melker Karlsson
Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Matt Nieto
Tomas Hertl - Chris Tierney - Tommy Wingels
John Scott - James Sheppard - Barclay Goodrow
Scott Hannan - Brent Burns
Mirco Mueller - Brenden Dillon
Matt Irwin - Matt Tennyson
Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock
Projected Capitals Lineup
Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - Alex Ovechkin
Jason Chimera - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Troy Brouwer
Brooks Laich - Eric Fehr - Joel Ward
Jay Beagle - Michael Latta - Tom Wilson
Brooks Orpik - John Carlson
Karl Alzner - Matt Niskanen
Jack Hillen - Mike Green
Braden Holtby
Justin Peters
Last Meeting
In their third game of the season, John Scott scored a goal and Matt Irwin scored twice before the Capitals stormed back to force overtime. San Jose eventually left D.C. with two points after a shootout victory.
Storylines
- The Sharks are 11-1-2 in their last 14 home games against the Capitals, although they did lose to Washington in a shootout at the Tank last March in the previous Bay Area meeting between these teams.
- Andrew Desjardins and Tyler Kennedy come out of the lineup after a lackluster showing on the fourth line against Calgary, to be replaced by John Scott and Barclay Goodrow.
- Joe Pavelski and Ovechkin are tied for the NHL lead with 15 power play goals on the season./