Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are California dreaming.

After a rough go of it in Los Angeles, Washington came out of the gate in San Jose hungry to bounce back, and they did that — and then some — as Alex Ovechkin, Trevor van Riemsdyk and more shined en route to a dominant 5-1 win over the Sharks.

Here are all the takeaways from the victory as the team ended its road trip on a high note.

Capitals Get Off To Dominant Start, Fights Break Out In Second

The Capitals' starts of late have left a lot to be desired, but they made no mistakes with a dominant first-period showing in San Jose.

Dylan Strome got Washington on the board early with his 21st of the season, which came off a nice feed from Alex Ovechkin. Strome now has points in five of his last six games.

Later on, Aliaksei Protas got to the open space and put home his 29th of the season and sixth goal in his last four games. Minutes later, Taylor Raddysh sniped one past Alexandar Georgiev to make it 3-0 and end the Sharks' netminder's night early.

After 20, Washington was outshooting San Jose, 17-3. In the second, the Capitals couldn't keep the same momentum going in what was ultimately a scoreless frame, but they did get chippy, as Tom Wilson and Brandon Duhaime dropped the gloves in back-to-back fights with Zack Ostapchuk and Noah Gregor respectively, before Jakob Chychrun got sent to the box for sticking up for his teammates and going after Vincent Desharnais.

Trevor van Riemsdyk Finally Finds Twine to Respark Capitals, Logan Thompson Stands Tall

After the second and early in the third, Washington lost a bit of its jump that it started with, as Macklin Celebrini pulled the Sharks within two. However, Trevor van Riemsdyk would have a response ready as he stormed up the ice seconds later and stuffed home his first goal in over two years (March 9, 2023).

Van Riemsdyk banked the puck off and in Georgi Romanov, who replaced Georgiev after the first. It ended a 154-game goal drought, the longest active goal drought in the NHL, and in turn, it brought the Capitals back to life.

Logan Thompson also helped spark D.C., making a handful of huge stops en route to the victory. He stopped 19 of 20 shots in the win as he continues his impressive season.

Alex Ovechkin Hits 887 To Continue Gr8 Chase, Eight Goals Away

Of course, Alex Ovechkin wasn't leaving empty-handed. The 39-year-old was hungry all night long and got to the front of the net, where he redirected a feed from Martin Fehervary past Romanov to make it 5-1.

Ovechkin's goal was his 887th career NHL goal and puts him just eight away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. Meanwhile, Romanov became the 182nd goaltender in NHL history that Ovechkin has scored on, adding to his impressive record.

With 12 goals in his last 17 outings, Ovechkin is a man on a mission and remains on pace to break the record in April. He is also up to 34 goals on the season, tied for the fifth-most in the NHL this season.

Top Shelf Takes

- Lars Eller, Tom Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had multi-assist outings.

- John Carlson hit the 40-assist mark for the second straight season and third time in the last four seasons.