Washington
Sharks vs. Capitals: When will Romanov start, message for Ostapchuk, lineup changes
SAN JOSE – Those waiting for goalie Georgi Romanov to make his first career start for the San Jose Sharks might not have to wait much longer.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Saturday that he might give Romanov a start sometime during this homestand, which continues for two more weeks. After Saturday, the Sharks’ next home games come later next week as they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and the Boston Bruins on March 22.
The homestand wraps up the following week with games against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 27 and the New York Rangers on March 29.
Romanov, a pending restricted free agent, made two relief appearances for the Sharks at the end of last season, stopping 29 of 30 shots in games against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
“I think so. We’ll see,” Warsofsky said about starting Romanov. “We’ll get through today. We have four days until our next game.”
Romanov, 25, joined the Sharks roster on March 5 after fellow goalie Vitek Vanecek on March 5 to the Florida Panthers. He’s had a steady diet of practices with the Sharks ever since, but had not gotten into a game as veteran Alexandar Georgiev has played every minute since the deal.
Saturday’s game against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals marked Georgiev’s seventh consecutive start dating back to March 3. In the previous six games, Georgiev is 3-3-0 with a .870 save percentage.
LINEUP CHANGES: Eight days after he was acquired from the Ottawa Senators, Zack Ostapchuk is making his Sharks debut Saturday and will start on the fourth line with Klim Kostin and Barclay Goodrow.
With Ostapchuk going in, Nikolai Kovalenko will come out of the lineup and Carl Grundstrom will be a healthy scratch for the second straight game,
At 6-foot-4 and 212 pounds, Ostapchuk said Friday that he wanted to come out and lay the body early in Saturday’s game. That’s fine with Warsofsky, who wants the 21-year-old to play to his identity.
“I think he knows what that is, and we’ll work through the mistakes,” Warsofsky said. “It’s a game of mistakes. I’m sure he’ll make some structure-wise, with some new structure that he’s learning. But I want him to go out there and compete and play to his ability of what his identity is, and we’ll correct mistakes as we go.”
Kovalenko returned to the Sharks’ lineup on March 6 after missing nine games with an injury. In the four games since, Kovalenko has had one goal, one shot, three hits, and one blocked shot, with five giveaways, while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time per game.
Kovalenko needs to regain the puck-hunting and forechecking style he had when the Sharks first acquired him in December.
“When you don’t have your ‘A’ game,” Warsofsky said, “what does your ‘B’ and ‘C’ game look like? How are you impacting the game in different ways? Are you being disruptive on the forecheck? Are you being physical, good defensively, blocking shots? You can’t just have one game. You have to have a couple different areas of your game that you can impact and help our hockey team.
“That’s not just (Kovalenko). That’s a lot of young players that come into this league.”
Originally Published:
Washington
Washington Capitals 2025-26 W Magazine Now Available | Washington Capitals
Arlington, Va. – W Magazine, a lifestyle publication produced by the Washington Capitals, is now available for purchase online at www.washcaps.com/wmagazine and at the Team Store at Capital One Arena and at the Team Store at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. The fan-favorite magazine, which features content surrounding every Capitals player along with hundreds of personal, never-before-seen family photos, is available for $8 plus shipping. In addition, season ticket members will receive a complimentary issue, with copies for season ticket members available at the Planholder Hub on the 100-level concourse during Capitals home games.
The cover story, written by Capitals senior writer Mike Vogel, goes in-depth with forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. Vogel speaks with Dubois, his teammates and family members for an extensive feature on the phone call that changed Dubois’ life and shaped his future with the Capitals franchise. Spanning more than 200 pages, W offers exclusive photography of Capitals players and their families, along with lifestyle content and interviews with every member of the 2025-26 roster. Highlights include:
- John Carlson on fishing in Maryland with his sons
- Brandon Duhaime on spearfishing and his related YouTube channel
- Ryan Leonard on moving to D.C. and living with the Dubois family
- Charlie Lindgren on his first offseason as a dad
- Alex Ovechkin on celebrating back home after becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer
- Logan Thompson on his love of dogs
- Trevor van Riemsdyk on pop-a-shot and pickleball
The magazine also features an in-depth look at the Capital One Arena transformation project, including exclusive photos, insights into future phases and Capitals player reactions to the new Capitals locker room complex. A special interview with Monumental Sports Network’s Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin reflects on the historic 50th anniversary season, while a day-in-the-life piece with Caps Radio’s John Walton and Katie Florio brings readers behind-the-scenes of a home game radio broadcast.
Additional features include a look at a regular day for former Capitals service dog in training Biscuit – now a facility dog at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center – and a photographic recap of Alex Ovechkin’s historic 2024-25 season. A new “Beyond the Boards” section spotlights community stories, while the fan-favorite “Short Shifts” section returns with Capitals players sharing thoughts on topics such as the best singer on the team, funniest teammate, personal goals beyond hockey, what everyone should try at least once, their ideal entrance theme song and more.
The magazine also profiles members of the Capitals Black Hockey Committee and introduces fans to the team driving the organization’s youth hockey initiatives.
W design services were provided by Matt Ryan. Player photography was provided by Greg Powers with assistance from Damon Banks. The cover featuring Pierre-Luc Dubois was photographed on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., with the assistance of captains and crew from City Cruises. Players were photographed for the publication at Origin in Arlington, Va.
Washington
Ginger’s Journey: Walking from Washington State to Washington, D.C.
Imagine setting out, on foot, for a journey not knowing how long it would take. Now imagine doing it with two animals as traveling partners from Washington State to Washington, D.C.
“Now I’ve started this leg of the journey in Morton, Washington where I was spiritually requested to go to Washington, D.C. and sing the song ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon on the Capitol steps,” says Jacob Holiday.
Jacob Holiday is on his way across America so he can sing a song he says signifies peace in the hopes, he says, of ending violence everywhere.
“I want so much peace. Cops would no longer carry firearms. We’re going to send the militaries of every country, I don’t care which one you’re talking about but every country, home to go to sleep. I don’t care what they do. But I want all this violence, everything, all this violence to stop.”
He has two wagons and his traveling companions are a dog and a goat. Holiday started in Washington State in July and he’s not worried about how long his hike across America will take.
His multi-state trek has seen him encounter a lot along the way, including a run-in with a bear.
He carries food for himself and his dog and his goat on carts that he says weigh a couple hundred pounds. Besides necessities, Holiday has one thing he’d greatly appreciate receive being able to buy as he continues his mission.
Holiday says he knows his mission isn’t an easy one, and he uses it as a metaphor for life as a whole.
We caught up with Holiday in the early part of November on a 70-degree day in Cambridge, Nebraska then spoke to him again a few days later in the rain as he headed east on Highways 6 and 34, so no telling how far he’s gotten now.
After we met with Holiday, we did notify the local sheriff to perform a welfare check, but we’re told Holiday wanted to continue his walk with his Capitol Steps goal still ahead of him. We also offered him food for himself and his animals, which he declined saying he had enough food on his carts.
Washington
Washington state flooding damage profound but unclear, governor warns
The extent of the damage in Washington state is profound but unclear after more than a week of heavy rains and record flooding, according to the state’s governor, Bob Ferguson.
A barrage of storms from weather systems stretching across the Pacific has dumped close to 2ft (0.6 metres) of rain in parts of the state, swelling rivers far beyond their banks and prompting more than 600 rescues across 10 counties.
More high water, mudslides and power outages were in the forecast. Elevated rivers and flood risk could persist until at least late this month, according to the National Weather Service. Wind and flood watches and warnings are expected in much of the north-west for the next couple of days as storms bring rain, heavy mountain snow and high winds.
As of Tuesday, authorities had recorded one death – of a man who drove past warning signs into a flooded area – but key highways were buried or washed out, entire communities had been inundated, and saturated levees had given way. It could be months before State Route 2, which connects cities in western Washington with the Stevens Pass ski area and the faux Bavarian tourist town of Leavenworth across the mountains, can be reopened, Ferguson said.
“We’re in for the long haul,” Ferguson said at a news conference. “If you get an evacuation order, for God’s sakes, follow it.”
It won’t be until after waters recede and landslide risk subsides that crews will be able to fully assess the damage, he said. The state and some counties are making several million dollars available to help people pay for hotels, groceries and other necessities, pending more extensive federal assistance that Ferguson and Washington’s congressional delegation expect to see approved.
According to the governor’s office, first responders had conducted at least 629 rescues and 572 assisted evacuations. As many as 100,000 people had been under evacuation orders at times, many of them in the flood plain of the Skagit River north of Seattle.
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