By Guest Contributor Kyle McLorg
It was just one of those nights in Washington for Little Joe.
Pavelski started the scoring early for the Sharks with a combination of luck and hand-eye coordination. Defenseman Dan Boyle slapped the puck from behind center ice and Pavelski tipped it at the blue line in an attempt to avoid an icing call. The puck took a weird skip on its way to the net before making it past Capitals rookie goalie Braden Holtby. That netted the Sharks their first goal at around the 12-minute mark of the first period — and the scoring wouldn’t stop – en route to a 5-3 win over Washington.
Pavelski would score 1 more goal and net 2 assists on the night, making it his first 4-point game since March 15th of last year against the Dallas Stars. Back up goalie Thomas Greiss played fairly well, giving up 3 goals while facing 39 shots, making him 4-0-1 in his last five starts.
Many people have gotten after the Sharks on here about their special teams play. However, San Jose was stellar in that department last night. The Sharks were 3-for-6 on the man advantage, while they shut down the Capitals, who went 0-for-4 on the power play.
This is the kind of performance Sharks fans have been begging to see — production from their top players, stout goaltending and special teams production. It was especially nice to see a bounce back after the Sharks laid a big egg in St. Louis the previous night. We’ll see if this success continues — the Sharks play next on Thursday in Tampa, continuing a 9-game tour of greater North America that won’t touchdown back in San Jose until the end of the month.
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You can find more of Kyle McLorg’s writing at Ruthless Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Ruthless_Sports.
