Ryan Leonard rolled to a four-point game (two goals, two assists), Alex Ovechkin scored a pair of goals, Matt Roy had three primary assists, and Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves to win his fourth straight start on Wednesday night at SAP Center in San Jose. It all added up to Washington’s sixth straight victory, and it came less than 24 hours after the Caps earned a grueling 3-1 win over the Kings in Los Angeles.

Despite getting into San Jose shortly before 3 a.m. on Wednesday, and despite losing both John Carlson (upper body) and Justin Sourdif (lower body) to injury before the game was underway, Washington swiftly shook off some early wobbles. The Caps scored four first-period goals, sending San Jose starter Yaroslav Askarov to the bench before the first frame was over.

“I thought it was as good a period as we’ve had this year, especially given the circumstances with the travel,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “We get in at three in the morning and had some different things going on with our lineup, and playing back-to-back. But it didn’t affect our group and our commitment level to how we play and our identity.”

The early minutes of Wednesday’s game did not accurately portend its finish.

Eight minutes into the contest, the Caps had iced the puck twice, they’d had to kill off a penalty, and they needed Charlie Lindgren to make a dazzling lateral stop on Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow, one on which the plucky goaltender lost his blocker, drawing a whistle. The Sharks were outshooting Washington 8-5, and the only reason the Caps weren’t trailing in the game was Lindgren.

“The save on Goodrow, it’s a 0-0 game,” says Carbery. “There’s a couple big saves on their early power play. So, if they go up 1-0, I’m not saying that’s going to change the entire game, but it’s a different game, you’re chasing it now, you’re down 1-0 and it’s back-to-back. Does it change the outcome? I’m not sure, but it certainly would change that first period.”

And then, the Capitals erupted.

Ovechkin started the scoring with a putback of a Roy shot at 8:25. Sonny Milano made it 2-0 at 10:05, converting a Declan Chisholm feed 10 seconds after a Hendrix Lapierre face-off win in the offensive zone.

The Sharks unsuccessfully challenged the Milano goal, putting the Caps on the power play.

At 13:35, the scoring resumed on a beauty from Leonard, who started the play by being first to a puck on the forecheck, and throwing a perfect feed to the front that led to a Trevor van Riemsdyk point shot. Leonard got to the rebound, subtly changed his shooting angle and scored for a 3-0 Washington lead.

Late in the frame, Aliaksei Protas made a terrific backhand feed to Brandon Duhaime on a shorthanded rush, and the latter buried it at 17:07 for the Caps’ first shorthanded goal of the season and Washington’s first four-goal first period on the road in nearly two years, since Jan. 2, 2024 in Pittsburgh.

Duhaime’s goal chased starting goaltender Yaroslav Askarov to the bench, and Alex Nedeljkovic came on in relief.

“It was awesome,” says Lindgren of the overkill of offensive support. “Those who know, it was a late night [Tuesday] night, and we came out and really set the tone right from the start. And scoring four goals in the first period was massive, and just a phenomenal effort by the guys in front of me tonight, phenomenal.”

Leonard drew a penalty early in the second, and Ovechkin scored on the ensuing power play – off a fine feed from Leonard – to make it a 5-0 lead at 2:41.

Things quieted down briefly for most of the remainder of the second, until Dylan Strome tipped home a Roy rip in the final minute of the middle period, the Caps’ sixth of the night.

The best was yet to come.

Early in the third, Lindgren made a handle behind his net, pushing the puck to Roy, who sent Leonard on his way up ice for a remarkable goal. First, Leonard turned Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren inside out on his way to the net, then he outmuscled Liljegren’s attempt to strip him of the puck, then he shelved a perfectly placed backhander to make it 7-0 at 1:03 of the third.

“That was a great play from Chuck, and then to Roysie,” says Leonard. “And then I just saw some ice and took it.”

When San Jose’s Pavol Regenda tipped home a Dmitry Orlov drive on a San Jose power play at 12:58 of the third, the Caps challenged for goaltender interference, hoping to preserve Lindgren’s shutout bid. But the goal stood, and the Caps got a successful penalty killing rep out of it.

Now, they’ll head back south to Anaheim where the trip concludes on Friday night against the Ducks, who were blanked 7-0 on home ice Wednesday at the hands of the Utah Mammoth.

“I think we just had to play simple; we knew that going in,” says Roy. “We were all ready to go with the game plan, and we were executing out there, which is helpful.”