Without Alex Ovechkin, Capitals are crushed by Sharks

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/without-alex-ovechkin-capitals-are-crushed-by-sharks/2015/10/13/db3a9f5e-71ca-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html

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The Washington Capitals steadily arrived at Verizon Center in their suits on Tuesday night. About an hour before the scheduled 7:05 p.m. puck drop, they played their usual game of soccer outside of their locker room. At 6:30, they skipped onto the ice for their pregame skate.

It was the normal routine without a normal presence. Alex Ovechkin was noticeably absent, not arriving at the arena until 6 p.m. and then announced as a healthy scratch for what the team described as “personal reasons.” Without their captain and prolific goal scorer, the Capitals struggled, suffering their first loss of the season, 5-0, against the San Jose Sharks.

After the game, Coach Barry Trotz declined to elaborate on why Ovechkin was unavailable, but the coach said he expects Ovechkin to play Thursday in Washington’s next game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“We could’ve used him tonight. He’s a great player,” Trotz said. “There’s no question about it. He’s our captain, he’s our leader, and he can make us go offensively. But we didn’t have him today, and that’s no excuse.”

Tuesday marked the Capitals’ fourth straight loss to San Jose at Verizon Center. When the Capitals, already trailing by three, did appear to score a goal in the second period that may have swung the momentum, it was waved off after a coach’s challenge. When they pressed in the final minutes of the game by pulling their goalie, the Sharks tallied two empty-netters.

“He’s a tremendous player, and it hurts not having that threat in the lineup,” defenseman Matt Niskanen said of Ovechkin. “That doesn’t stop us from going out and competing really hard and being mentally ready to play.”

Ovechkin missed the morning skate and was officially announced as a scratch when the team took warmups, leaving the Capitals without both their first-line left wing and center. Nicklas Backstrom is still out of the lineup as he recovers from a May hip surgery.

Ovechkin and Backstrom had not missed the same game since 2012, and Tuesday night was just the fifth game both missed since Backstrom made his NHL debut in 2007, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Washington is now 1-3-1 in those games. Without them on Tuesday night, the team sputtered. The power play, the league’s best last season, looked ineffective, not getting a single shot on goal in the first two of its four opportunities.

On the Capitals’ third power play, center Evgeny Kuznetsov had a point-blank wrist shot, but it was stopped and Kuznetsov fell back on the ice, looking at the net in disbelief before hopping back up.

To replace Ovechkin, Trotz moved Andre Burakovsky up to top-line left wing after he had centered the second line during the preseason and in the Capitals’ first game. Brooks Laich, who had been on the fourth line, moved up to second-line center with Marcus Johansson and Justin Williams. Stanislav Galiev made his season debut on the fourth line.

“Maybe he finds a way to put one in on the power plays that we had,” defenseman Karl Alzner said of Ovechkin. “It’s tough to say now. But we have guys that can fill the void if necessary and a lot of guys that want to be leaned on more. We just didn’t do the right job tonight.”

Without their top-line stalwarts, the Capitals struggled in the first period. The Sharks tallied 17 shots on goal, while Washington had just eight. The Capitals didn’t help themselves with three penalties, which kept the rejiggered first line off the ice.

Thirteen seconds after defenseman Brooks Orpik was called for tripping, the second penalty of the night, Brent Burns fired a shot from the left point on the power play, and it was deflected in by Joe Thornton to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead 10 minutes 54 seconds into the game.

The deficit ballooned in the second period as the barrage continued. Chris Tierney drove to the net and got stopped by goaltender Braden Holtby, but then Mike Brown put away the rebound 2:36 into the second period. Less than five minutes later, Holtby stopped Tommy Wingels’s shot, but Tomas Hertl got around Washington defenseman Karl Alzner to score on the rebound, giving San Jose a 3-0 lead.

When the Capitals finally beat Sharks goaltender Martin Jones — a one-timer by defenseman Dmitry Orlov from the high slot midway through the second period — the play was challenged by Sharks Coach Peter DeBoer. The goal was waved off because of interference by Jay Beagle on Jones, extinguishing any momentum the Capitals might have gleaned from it.

The decision to overturn the goal was booed, but Washington struggled to help itself before and after that without its top two players.

“I think at that point, it maybe took a little out of our sail,” defenseman John Carlson said. “But it shouldn’t have. At that point, we were playing good hockey but just couldn’t find the net.”