Capitals 5, Sharks 4 (OT)
Joel Ward buried the rebound of defenseman Mike Green's backhand shot at 2:42 of overtime as visiting Washington posted a rare victory over San Jose.
Jay Beagle recorded two goals and an assist, defenseman John Carlson added one of each and Troy Brouwer also scored for the Capitals, who defeated the Sharks for just the third time in their last 21 meetings. Nicklas Backstrom and blue-liner Brooks Orpik each notched a pair of assists while Braden Holtby made 26 saves.
All-Star defenseman Brent Burns registered his second two-goal performance of the season while Joe Thornton and Logan Couture recorced a tally and an assist apiece for San Jose, which fell to 1-3-2 this month after ending January with a three-game winning streak. Patrick Marleau and Matt Nieto each set up a pair of goals while Antti Niemi turned aside 28 shots.
Beagle opened the scoring when he buried a loose puck in front with 4:58 left in the first period, but Burns put San Jose ahead with goals 22 seconds apart in the opening minute of the second. Brouwer evened the contest during a power play at 6:17 by tipping captain Alex Ovechkin's wrist shot from the left faceoff circle, but the Sharks regained the lead when Couture grabbed the puck behind the net and put it in at the right post with 5:12 left in the session.
Washington forged a 3-3 tie at 11:17 of the third as Beagle took a clear path to the net after a linesman inadvertently blocked Sharks defenseman Mirco Mueller and slid a backhander around a sprawled Niemi. Carlson put the Capitals in front 2:09 later with a shot from the right circle, but Thornton converted a cross-slot pass from Joe Pavelski 63 seconds afterward to draw San Jose even.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Thornton raised his career point total to 1,241, moving him past Peter Stastny for 36th place on the all-time list while Backstrom climbed within five points of Bengt Gustafsson (555) for sixth in franchise history. ... Couture reached the 20-goal plateau for the fifth consecutive season. ... Washington D Karl Alzner played in his 400th NHL game.