Sharks 6, Capitals 5 (SO): Joe Pavelski scored the lone goal in the shootout as visiting San Jose squandered a pair of three-goal leads but managed to survive against Washington.

Defenseman Matt Irwin netted a pair of goals in his season debut, Pavelski and John Scott each added their first tally and Tommy Wingels recorded a goal and an assist as the Sharks remained unbeaten through three games (3-0-0). Antti Niemi, who posted shutouts in each of the first two games, allowed his first five tallies but finished with 29 saves.

Justin Peters stopped Patrick Marleau to begin the shootout but could not get Pavelski’s wrist shot, and Eric Fehr missed the net on Washington's final attempt. Braden Holtby surrendered three goals on seven shots in the first 9:34 before being pulled by the Capitals, who settled for a single point despite getting two goals and an assist from captain Alex Ovechkin.

Joe Thornton won a faceoff and sent the puck back to the point for Irwin, who blasted a slap shot past Holtby 1:23 into the contest to get San Jose started. Irwin drew a penalty minutes later and converted on the power play at 4:36 before Scott, who was playing his first game with the Sharks, ended Holtby’s night by grabbing a turnover and racing through the slot for a wrist shot.

Marcus Johansson got the Capitals on the board and ended Niemi’s shutout streak by winning a scrum in front of the net during a power play 2:51 into the second, but Pavelski scored 2:36 later to restore the three-goal advantage. Defenseman Mike Green and Ovechkin tallied 34 seconds apart to cut the deficit to 4-3 before Wingels buried his own rebound 1:37 into the third, but Ovechkin and Troy Brouwer each tallied with under six minutes remaining to force overtime.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Sharks D Scott Hannan played in his 1,000 career game and was plus-1 over 24 shifts. … Ovechkin’s assist was the 393rd of his career, moving him past Mike Gartner and into second place on the Capitals’ all-time list behind Michal Pivonka (418). … Peters made 14 saves in relief of Holtby.