Washington Capitals play host to the San Jose Sharks for the first time this season
Washington Capitals will be hosting the San Jose Sharks in another one of the game of Tuesday. Both these teams are scheduled to meet twice during the course of the season and this will be the first of the two meeting while the second will take place later
in the month.
The last time these two meet met was during the 2009-10 season which also saw them play twice. The first match was won by Washington Capitals 4-1 easily but the next match a few months later saw Sharks takes revenge as they won the match 5-2 as well. Joe
Pavelski, Ryane Clowe and Joe Thornton were all among the scorers in the match and will surely play an important role as the teams square off against each other.
There are few very important questions ahead of the match that the Washington Capitals come across. These include the likes of forward and their star player Alexander Semin’s return after injury or not? Will Mike Green miss the match or will he be fit in
time?
Alexander Semin was on the injury list for quite some time now and missed the past 12 games for the Washington Capitals which has affected them quite a bit if not much. Mike Green on the other hand suffered from an injury as the defenceman was struck on
the ear by a shot in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Head Coach Bruce Boudreau hasn’t given any signs of Green missing the match but with this comes the chances of him even missing the game.
Washington Capitals came up with a dominating performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins this past Sunday as they won the match comfortably 3-0 in the end. The rivalry between the two sides led to the match being very tight at the start but Capitals with
their strong plays scored and the defence restricted the Penguins from scoring any goals.
Michal Neuvirth, goalie of the Capitals was on top of his game as the talented goal keeper made 22 saves and kept the clean sheet intact. As a result of the win, Capitals are less than three points away from the leaders in the Southeast Division, Tampa Bay
Lightning.
"For us to get anywhere near the top again we're going to have to string together a winning streak of six, seven or eight games; win nine of 10 to catch the teams ahead of us," Laich said.
Currently, Washington Capitals have played 54 games out which they won 29 games in regulation time, 10 games in overtime and scored 68 points. One the other hand, San Jose Sharks has played 53 games and they have won 28 games in regulation time, 6 games
in overtime and scored 62 points.
Antti Niemi, goal keeper of the San Jose Sharks missed a game after the All-Star weekend. However, after this he made two starts and won both of the matches. One of the two matches included a 26 saves performance against the Boston Bruins this Saturday.
"I think our team made it very easy for me to see the puck and block the hard ones. It wasn't too bad," Niemi said. "We knew they had big, strong guys and they are. They were trying to be at our net and in front, and trying to make the good screens. I think
they did. I lost the pucks a few times, but I think our 'D' did a good job of clearing them out for me."
Both teams have a very good chance of winning the game and from the way things have been going for both teams lately, the game is going to be very interesting.
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