Wilson helps Capitals rally late to hand Sharks 9th straight loss to open season

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period and the Washington Capitals beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Sunday for their third straight win.

Dylan Strome and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored, Alex Ovechkin had two assists, and the Capitals have their longest win streak since also winning three straight last December. Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots.

Luke Kunin scored for San Jose and Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 39 saves. The Sharks fell to 0-7-2 and have lost 15 straight dating back to last season.

San Jose came out with urgency and piled on the pressure to start the game after being shut out in their previous two outings. Kunin finally ended the Sharks' 163-minute, 10-second scoreless streak, crashing the net and burying a rebound at the left post to open the scoring at 11:40 of the first period. It marked the seventh time in eight games that Washington gave up the first goal.

Sharks defenseman Ty Emerson got his first NHL point on the play.

Strome's shot through traffic tied the score at 2:18 of the third. Strome is now on a three-game goal-scoring streak and leads Washington with six goals. Capitals defenseman Hardy Häman Aktell had an assist for his first career point.

Wilson put the Capitals ahead with 4:45 remaining as he crashed the net sent a shot off Sharks defenseman Kyle Burroughs and in. It was Wilson's second of the season and gave him 300 points for his career. It also extended his point streak to four games.

Kuznetsov capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 58 seconds to go.

UP NEXT

Sharks: Return home to host Vancouver on Thursday night.

Capitals: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL