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Caps aim for rare win in San Jose

Feb 17, 2011 - 4:12 PM (Sports Network) - The Washington Capitals are coming off one of their best offensive showings of the season, but offense has been hard to come by against the San Jose Sharks.

The Capitals hope to wrap the western portion of their current road trip tonight with a rare victory at HP Pavilion against the Sharks.

Washington has notched just three goals over a three-game losing streak that was extended in the opener of a five-game road trip on Monday. However, the Capitals broke out of that slump last night with a 7-6 victory over the Ducks, rallying from four deficits in the game.

Alexander Semin scored the game's final two goals to record his fourth hat trick of the season. He found the back of the net for the first time since Nov. 28 -- missing 15 games with injury in that span -- and had the game- winning goal with 1:47 left in regulation.

"We fell behind so many times," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau, "but we never quit."

Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Laich, David Steckel and Mike Knuble also lit the lamp for the Capitals and Karl Alzner set a career high with three assists.

Semyon Varlamov started for the Capitals and yielded three goals on nine shots. Michal Neuvirth was in net for the second and third periods, allowing three goals on 12 shots.

Washington, which will play in Buffalo on Sunday, pulled to within four points of first-place Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division despite being without defenseman Mike Green for a second game in a row with an inner ear ailment. Matt Hendricks did not play in the third period of last night's game after getting hit from behind and into the boards late in the second.

The Capitals got no offense in a Feb. 8 home meeting with the Sharks, falling 2-0 for their second straight loss in this series and 13th in the past 14 meetings. Their lone win in that span came at home on Oct. 15, 2009 and they have nine losses and a tie in their last 10 trips to San Jose.

Neuvirth gave up two third-period goals on 36 total shots in the February loss, while Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 25 saves in the shutout.

Niemi turned in 30 stops in Tuesday's overtime victory against Nashville, with Patrick Marleau scoring with 1:07 left in the bonus frame. He buried a shot from down low after a turnover past Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.

"Rinne stopped a lot of rubber," Marleau said. "We wanted to throw a lot of rubber at him and he stood in there tall. He is definitely one of the top goalies in the league."

Devin Setoguchi scored in the second period for the Sharks, who snapped a two- game slide and won for the sixth time in eight games. They are tied with Anaheim and Dallas for second place in the Pacific Division with 68 points, just one back of first-place Phoenix.

San Jose returns home for back-to-back contests after a 5-2-0 road trip and has won its last three at HP Pavilion.