Sharks notes: Ovechkin a gametime decision; Donskoi good to go

Programming note: Sharks-Capitals coverage starts today at 3:30pm with Sharks Pregame Live on CSN California.

WASHINGTON -- The biggest news Tuesday morning is that Capitals star Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision against the Sharks due to personal reasons, according to multiple reports.

The league’s leading goal scorer from a year ago did not take part in Washington's morning skate.

In 13 career games against the Sharks, Ovechkin has seven goals and 11 points. He scored a highlight-reel goal in Washington’s season opening win over New Jersey on Saturday, skating the puck through defenseman John Moore's legs and beating goalie Keith Kinkaid.

“Obviously you have to pay special attention to him. You have to know when he’s on the ice,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “The power play, he’s key. Even if he’s not in, we can’t take a deep breath and relax here. That’s a very deep team offensively over there. I’m not hoping that he’s out, but we still have to respect the fact that they have a lot of other weapons over there.”

Paul Martin has plenty of experience against Ovechkin, having spent his entire career with New Jersey and Pittsburgh before signing with San Jose.

[KURZ: Sharks morning skate: Road trip kicks off in DC]

“He’s just able to get himself into open areas of the ice and find that space that most of the goal scorers are good at,” Martin said. “His release is so quick with getting that shot off and he’s able to do it at different angles, through a [defenseman’s] skates, his stick, and with very little time.”

The Capitals are also down center Nicklas Backstrom due to a hip injury. Should Ovechkin sit, it appears that 23-year-old rookie and 2010 third round pick Stanislav Gailev will take his place after being a healthy scratch in the Caps’ first game.

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One of the bigger keys to stopping Washington is keeping its power play at bay. The Capitals were the league’s top team on the man advantage last season (25.3 percent), and were 2-for-5 on Saturday against the Devils.

Ovechkin has led the league in power play goals in each of the last three seasons, including 25 in 2014-15 (Joe Pavelski was second with 19).

After having to kill off just one power play against Anaheim on Saturday, DeBoer went over some things with his penalty killers on Tuesday morning. The Sharks are 7-for-7 on the season.

“We spent a little extra time on it today just because of how dangerous Washington’s power play is – how different it is than most power plays,” DeBoer said. “Obviously the Ovechkin factor with him out there is something we wanted to talk about.”

Chris Tierney said: “They are so lethal from so many different angles. … Hopefully we can stay out of the box so we don’t have to do that too many times.”

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Joonas Donskoi declared himself good to go after missing most of Sunday’s practice due to a right ankle/foot issue from blocking a shot in the first period against the Ducks.

“It’s not that bad,” said the rookie, who scored his first NHL goal in the Sharks’ first game in Los Angeles.

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DeBoer has stuck to his plan of rolling all of his lines through the first two games. Against the Ducks, no one the roster played fewer than 10 minutes.

The fourth line for Tierney, Barclay Goodrow and Mike Brown has been effective. They will remain together for at least another night against Washington.

“I think we’re pretty confident right now in our line,” Tierney said. “We feel like Pete can use us against some of the other team’s lines, whether it be a third or second line. We feel comfortable going out there and being able to get in the other team’s end and do work. It keeps the top lines fresh for late game situations, power play, whatever it might be.”

DeBoer said: “I believe we have the personnel there create mismatches with the other team. I think they’ve kind of taken that and run with it.”

Ben Smith and Dylan DeMelo will remain out as the healthy scratches for the third straight game.