WASHINGTON CAPITALS NOTES:
INJURIES/ILLNESSES
Martin Fehervary: 11/11-11/24 (5 games)
Nicklas Backstrom: 11/2-11/24 (9 games)
Max Pacioretty: 10/13-11/24 (17 games)
Evgeny Kuznetsov: 11/18-11/22 (2 games)
Anthony Mantha: 11/10-11/14 (3 games)
Darcy Kuemper: 11/10-11/11 (2 games)
Trevor van Riemsdyk: 11/8-11/14 (4 games)
Sonny Milano: 10/29 (1 game)
Nic Dowd: 10/18-11/8 (9 games)
Charlie Lindgren: 10/16-10/27 (6 games)
Joel Edmundson: 10/13-11/14 (14 games)
Man Games Lost: 72
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Capitals visit the San Jose Sharks on Monday at SAP Center for the second and final meeting between the teams this season. In their previous meeting on Oct. 29 at Capital One Arena, the Capitals scored three third-period goals to rally for a 3-1 win. Monday’s contest marks the first game of a five-game road trip for Washington. Washington has won five-straight games at San Jose dating back to March 10, 2018, and have outscored the Sharks 24-6 in their last five meetings at SAP Center.
TOP CAPS FACTS
Road Warriors
– The Capitals begin a five-game road trip on Monday when they visit the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center. – The Capitals’ five game Western Conference road trip, during which they’ll play San Jose, the Los Angeles Kings (Nov. 29), the Anaheim Ducks (Nov. 30), the Vegas Golden Knights (Dec. 2) and the Arizona Coyotes (Dec. 4), is tied for their longest stretch of games away from Capital One Arena this season (also March 11-18). – Washington has a 3-1-1 road record this season and enters Monday’s tilt riding a three-game road winning streak (3-0-0) and a fourgame road point streak (3-0-1). – The Capitals have won five-straight games at San Jose dating back to March 10, 2018, and have outscored the Sharks 24-6 in their last five meetings at SAP Center. – Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Capitals’ .609 road point percentage ranks tied for eighth in the NHL.
Collecting Points
– The Capitals’ five-game win streak (5-0-0) and seven-game point streak (6-0-1) ended on Nov. 24 vs. Edmonton. – The Capitals are 9-2-1 in their last 12 games. – Washington’s .792 point percentage since Oct. 25 is the third-highest in the NHL (New York Rangers: .885; Los Angeles Kings: .846). – The Capitals are averaging 2.42 goals against per game during the 12-game stretch, which ranks fourth in the NHL since Oct. 25 (Los Angeles: 1.85 GA/GP; Pittsburgh: 2.29 GA/GP; New York Rangers: 2.38 GA/GP) (through games played Nov. 25). – Through games played Nov. 25, the Capitals sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 10-5-2 (22 pts., .647 P%). The Capitals (17 GP) have played the fewest games among Metropolitan Division teams. – Washington boasts the third-highest point percentage in the Eastern Conference and the ninth-highest point percentage in the NHL, despite starting 1-3-1.
SAN JOSE SHARKS NOTES:
LIKE MIKE
Forward Mike Hoffman has overcome a slow start on the offensive end, most recently posting his second multi-point game in teal (1g, 1a) and adding his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the Sharks’ 4-3 win over Vancouver on Saturday (Nov. 25). Hoffman’s marker was his first game-winning goal as a Shark. Hoffman now has six goals and seven points (6g, 1a) in the past six games, including a multi-goal effort on Nov. 16 against St. Louis, and has taken the team lead for goals on the year. Hoffman, acquired over the summer in the trade that sent defenseman Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh, has registered 20 or more goals in six of the past nine seasons and sits on 699 career games played entering Monday’s meeting with Washington.
HERT SO GOOD
Forward Tomáš Hertl leads the Sharks with 16 points (4g, 12a), entering Monday’s contest against the Capitals, most recently registering a pair of assists in Saturday’s win against Vancouver. Hertl has posted back-to-back two-assist efforts, passing Owen Nolan for sixth on the Sharks’ all-time multi-point games list (110). With his most recent marker, his fourth of the year, Hertl passedNolan (206) for sole possession of fifth on the Sharks’ all-time goals list. He is two game-winning goals from tying Jonathan Cheechoo (36) for fifth on the team’s all-time GWG list. With his pair of helpers on Oct. 17, Hertl (453 points) surpassed Nolan (451) for sixth on San Jose’s all-time points list and moved beyond Jeff Friesen for eighth on the team’s all-time multi-assist games list (38), and his multi-helper game against Pittsburgh tied him with Erik Karlsson for seventh. Hertl entered 2023-24 after posting a career-best 41 assists in 2022-23, a season in which he tallied 63 points (22g, 41 a) in 72 games. It was the second time in his career that he hit the 20-goal plateau in consecutive seasons and the first since 2017-18 (22) and 2018-19 (35).
HERE’S GRANNY
Forward Mikael Granlund netted his first goal as a Shark in Saturday’s win against Vancouver, a highlight-reel marker to take a 3-2 lead in the third period’s opening minute. Granlund, acquired along with Mike Hoffman and Jan Rutta in the trade that sent Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh over the summer, has posted five points (1g, 4a) in the past six games, with a pair of multi-point efforts, finding his footing after missing seven games (Oct. 14 – Oct. 27) due to injury early in the season.
ZETT SETTER
Forward Fabian Zetterlund is tied for second on the Sharks with five goals on the year, most recently lighting the lamp in Saturday’s win over Vancouver. He scratched the goal column with the Sharks on Oct. 17 against Carolina, his first marker with the club since being acquired as part of the trade that sent Timo Meier to New Jersey in February. Adding an assist later in the contest, Zetterlund tallied his first multi-point game in teal and sixth of his career. The Swedish forward followed up with his second goal in teal a week later, scoring on the power play in the Sharks’ contest at Florida (Oct. 24) and enters Nov. 27 vs. Washington with three goals in November (Nov. 2 vs. VAN, Nov. 9 vs. EDM, Nov. 25 vs. VAN). Per NHL Edge, Zetterlund ranked in the 97th percentile for top skating speed, a 23.19 mph burst (0:50, second period) on Nov. 2 vs. Vancouver, is in the 92nd percentile for speed bursts over 20 mph (42) as of games ending Nov. 25.
WHERE THERE’S A WILL…
Forward William Eklund started the year with two points in the first six games, including his first goal of the season against Carolina on Oct. 17, and added his second goal of the campaign on Nov. 7 against Philadelphia, a power play strike that proved to be his first career game-winning goal. With his third goal of the season coming on Nov. 16, Eklund has his highest single-season goal total of his young career. The Swedish forward enters Monday’s game against Washington having found the score sheet in five of the last nine games (3g, 3a), most recently with his first-career multi-point effort Friday against Montreal (1g, 1a). As of games ending Nov. 25, the Stockholm, Sweden native ranks near the top of the NHL in skating distance (89th percentile) at 60.93 miles and in speed bursts over 20 miles per hour (75th percentile) with 26. Eklund, the seventh-overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, now has 15 points (6g, 9a) through 38 career NHL games.
BIG MAC
Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood has been among the NHL’s best this season and has strung together strong performances since the calendar flipped to November, giving the team above-.900 Save Percentages in five of his past six starts, including in a pair of wins over Philadelphia (Nov. 7; 38-for-39) and Edmonton (Nov. 9; 39-for-41). He has since added .900-plus showings three times, stopping 40-for-44 (at ANA – Nov. 12), 37-for-40 (at VAN – Nov. 20) and 22-of-24 (vs. MTL – Nov. 24). Per NHL PR, his save total against Philadelphia was the second-most in Sharks history for a goalie in his first win with the club, lesser than only Troy Grosenick’s 45 on Nov. 16, 2014. Blackwood ranked in the 97th percentile in the NHL following games on Nov. 25 with 124 high-danger saves on the year per NHL Edge and is in the 78th percentile among league goaltenders with a high-danger save percentage of .832. Blackwood started his Sharks tenure with a remarkable 51-save effort against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 14, including stops on his first 48 shots faced in the game. It remains the most by a NHL netminder in any game this season, represents the most by any NHL goalie in a debut with a new team since at least 1955-56, per NHL PR, and was the most by a Sharks netminder in this milennium (Steve Shields – 51, Oct. 14, 1999, 5-1 W at NSH).
STURM WARNING
Nico Sturm has been dominant at the faceoff dot so far this season, finishing Saturday’s game against Vancouver (Nov. 25) ranked fourth in the NHL at 61.5-percent on draws (min. 50 faceoffs). Prior to a two-game absence on Nov. 20-22, he paced the league at 65.8-percent at even strength (min. 50 FO) and he currently ranks eighth in shorthanded FOW% with a 58.3-percent clip (min. 20 SH FO). The forward earned his first point of the season with an assist in the Sharks’ win over Edmonton on Nov. 9 and more recently posted the primary assist in the Sharks’ first goal in a 5-1 win over St. Louis on Nov. 16. Sturm went 17-for-20 (85.0%) Oct. 27 at Carolina, the third-best single-game effort at the dot in his career (min. 10 faceoffs). Sturm’s strong start comes on the heels of posting the 21st-best season in Sharks history at the dot (min. 100 FO) in 2022-23, winning 55.8-percent of his draws on the season.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
11/24 Activated D Matt Benning from injured reserve; placed D Jan Rutta on injured reserve
