Kunin scores late as Sharks slip past Capitals

*Photo from the Marietta Daily Journal*

   How's this for a close game? MacKenzie Blackwood had a good game in net, Luke Kunin scored the winning goal, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Washington Capitals with a 2-1 victory on Monday in San Jose.

   The Sharks picked up just their 5th win of the season and won their second straight game, the second time this season they've won two in a row. They also earned at least one point in 3 straight games for the first time this season. 6 different players recorded a point for the Sharks.

   Sharks head coach David Quinn said after the game that "We've been scratching and clawing here over the past three weeks and I'm really proud of our guys. They're showing some characteristics that you need if you're going to have a successful season."

   It was the Sharks who started the scoring in the game. Fabian Zetterlund got it going for the Sharks, scoring 10:23 into the game to make it 1-0 Sharks on his 6th goal of the season, which was the only goal of the first period. At the 16:25 mark of the second period, Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals to tie the game 1-1.

   The game remained 1-1 after two periods and for most of the 3rd period. With the Sharks on the power play 12:48 into the 3rd period, Kunin scored the eventual game winning goal, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead on his 5th goal of the season. Assists went to Ty Emberson and Justin Bailey as the Sharks held on for the win.

   Kunin said of the win that "It wasn't our best game by any means, but we found a way to win and keep that good feeling going. So, hopefully we can build off of some things and keep that good feeling going into the road trip."

   Getting the start in goal for the Sharks was Blackwood, who had a strong game to pick up the win and improve to 3-9-2 in 14 starts. Blackwood stopped all but one of the 34 shots the Capitals sent at him, good for a .971 save percentage.

   Starting for the Capitals across from Blackwood was Darcy Kuemper, who took the loss to drop to 4-4-2 in 10 starts despite a good game on his own. Kuemper made 21 saves out of the 23 shots on goal the Sharks had, recording a .913 save percentage.

   Capitals forward Connor McMichael said of the loss that "I think there have been a lot of games throughout the year where they are one-goal games and we just can't seem to find the back of the net. Tonight, I think we outchanced them pretty heavily. We had a lot of great looks. We just couldn't put the puck in the net."

   The Sharks start a trip to the East Coast when they face the Boston Bruins on Thursday, with Blackwood expected to start. The Capitals continue their west coast trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, with Kuemper the projected starter.