The Washington Capitals (27-16-5) host the San Jose Sharks (28-15-7) Tuesday night for a 7 pm puck drop at Capital One Arena. This is the first of two meetings between the teams from opposite coasts, the next matchup will be on Feb. 14 in San Jose. The game will broadcast on ESPN+, NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports California.
Washington is coming off a 8-5 loss to the last place Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. This loss extended the team’s losing streak to five straight, the longest losing streak the team has had all season.
San Jose visited the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night, where they collected a 6-3 loss. They play the Florida Panthers Monday night.
What to watch for in the Washington Capitals:
The Capitals are currently on their longest losing streak of the season, as well as being the longest streak since 2014. The loss against the Blackhawks has so far been the pinnacle of their losing streak. Following the loss, the players held a player’ meeting, according to Washington Post reporter Isabelle Khurshudyan this was the first of the season. A big takeaway from the past two games was the lack of defense the team has had the past few games, allowing multiple breakaways that lead to opponents scoring.
The five goals that the team had on Sunday all came from defensemen. John Carlson scored twice, while Brooks Orpik, Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen all scored once. It still seems that the forwards are having trouble scoring for the Capitals.
Andre Burakovsky recorded a pair of assists in the Sunday’s game. Burakovsky has been scratched a few games this season and there have also been rumors of other teams being interested in trading for him. He has proven that he should not be traded. While only having five goals and six assists on the season, he has an impact on the defensive pressure by a forward.
T.J. Oshie had two assists as well in Sunday’s loss in Chicago. The past two games there has been an increase of time on ice for the right-winger. During Friday’s game against the New York Islanders, Oshie saw 19 minutes and 29 seconds of ice time in 19 shifts, almost a four-minute increase of ice time from the previous game. In Sunday’s game, he played 23 shifts with the time on ice being 19 minutes and 8 seconds. Coach Todd Reirden could use Oshie to his advantage, as he has him paired with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin on the top line.
We could see Braden Holtby in net Tuesday, following Sunday’s game where he was pulled in the second period. Reirden could use Phoenix Copley in Wednesday’s away game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
What to watch for in the San Jose Sharks:
Erik Karlsson will miss the next two games for the Sharks, but coach Peter DeBoer says he could still play in the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game.https://t.co/OMuT3zbUVi
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) January 21, 2019
Tweets have been going around saying that Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson is going to miss the final two games before the All-Star Break. According to Coach Peter DeBoer, he stated in Monday morning’s press conference that Karlsson would miss the next two games against the Capitals and Panthers. This is a big loss to the Sharks defensive unit and offensive production, as Karlsson has 40 assists on the season.
A key forward to keep an eye on in Tuesday night’s game will be Evander Kane. He has three goals in the past two games. In the Jan. 15 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kane had three assists in the Sharks 5-2 win. He is also averaging 4.2 shots a game in the past five games. With 19 goals and 21 assists in a span of 50 games, Kane is expected to have a career best in goals and assists this season.
In for their matchup against the Florida Panthers, Aaron Dell could be in net, so Martin Jones will be expected in net Tuesday night against the Capitals.
Prediction: Capitals 3 – Sharks 2 (OT)
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