Newly contending Sharks open road trip at inconsistent Capitals

The San Jose Sharks have been one of the NHL's best surprises this season.

After finishing the 2024-25 season with the league's worst record and 52 points, the Sharks have flipped the script as they have 49 points through 45 games and entered Wednesday in playoff position in the Western Conference.

San Jose will be looking to use its youthful offense to it advantage on Thursday against the host Washington Capitals.

Macklin Celebrini, the driving force of San Jose's offense, has made his case as a contender for the NHL's Hart Memorial Trophy through the first half of the season.

A rare sight was seen on Sunday, though, as the second-year center was held pointless in a 7-2 loss to the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, marking the end of his 13-game point streak (nine goals, 18 assists).

Celebrini, the top overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, has been held pointless only 10 times across 45 games this season, collecting 24 goals and 46 assists in total. The 19-year-old's 70 points has him 38 points ahead of the Sharks' next-best total with Alexander Wennberg (10 goals, 22 assists) and Tyler Toffoli (13, 19) each tallying 32 coming into Thursday's contest.

San Jose's three-game win streak also came to an end on Sunday, with Collin Graf and Wennberg both finding the back of the net for the losing side.

Michael Misa, the second-overall draft selection in 2025, played in his first NHL game since Nov. 1 after the 18-year-old represented Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

"It doesn't matter the opposition," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters when asked about the Sharks' struggles against Vegas this season. "Listen, we've got to play a lot better in a lot of different areas and learn how to win consistently, and play the right way consistently at the end of the day."

Consistency has been a key area missing from the Capitals so far this season.

Washington hasn't been able to string together a run of back-to-back victories since it capped off a six-game win streak against these same Sharks with a 7-1 demolition back on Dec. 3.

The Capitals will have that opportunity on Thursday after they took down the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday.

Ethen Frank buried a pair of goals in the third period to force the extra frame, before Connor McMichael scored on a rebound with 39 seconds left in overtime.

Rasmus Sandin picked up an assist on all three Capitals' goals, while Logan Thompson compiled 24 saves in the victory.

Washington's most recent win was extra impressive given the fact that Tom Wilson (lower body), Pierre-Luc Dubois (abdomen) and Jakob Chychrun (illness) were absent from the lineup.

"We're battling through some things, missing some key guys, but we showed a ton of character to fight in that third period," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said following the comeback victory. "You could tell right from the first two shifts. ...You never know how it's going to end up, but I knew we were going to put our foot on the gas and throw the kitchen sink at them."

The Sharks will commence a long road stretch on Thursday, with nine of their next 10 games away from home.