SAN JOSE >> The Sharks have played dozens of close games this season, an example, it seems, of how much more competitive they’ve been compared to last year.

Every so often, though, the Sharks will receive a harsh reminder of how much further they still have to go.

It happened Saturday, as the Sharks were dominated in the first period and never recovered in a sometimes feisty 5-1 loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals before a sold-out SAP Center crowd.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 34th goal of the season, and the 887th of his illustrious career, at the 10:54 mark of the third period to complete the scoring. Macklin Celebrini scored his 21st of the season in the third period for the Sharks, who lost for the fourth time in five games.

Ovechkin needs seven more goals to tie Wayne Gretzky atop the NHL’s all-time goal scoring list. He also has 17 goals and 30 points in 29 career games against the Sharks.

“He’s obviously incredible, one of the best to ever do it,” Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli said of the 39-year-old Ovechkin. “He’s not far off from breaking that record.”

In the first period, the Sharks were outshot 17-3 by the Capitals, the NHL’s top-scoring team. In the opening 18:55, San Jose allowed goals to Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas, and Taylor Raddysh.

Coach Ryan Warsofsky responded by replacing goalie Alexandar Georgiev with rookie Georgi Romanov for the final two periods. However, that was more a message from Warsofsky to his skaters than a reflection of his dissatisfaction with Georgiev, who made 14 saves.

“I just think we did it ourselves,” Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais said. “Yes, they’re a great team. They’re well structured, but we can’t have a first 20 minutes like that. We know that they have a good team.

“We’ve got to be sharp, and we had too many turnovers, too many plays where we were not focused.”

Romanov, in his third career NHL game, made 10 saves for the Sharks, who were coming off a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. San Jose’s next game is Thursday at home against the Carolina Hurricanes.

“There’s no magic recipe,” Desharnais said. “We just had to play harder, and I thought the second period was a lot better. It stinks for (Georgiev), we left him out to dry in the first period.”

The Sharks (18-41-9) are in 32nd and last place in the NHL, but have played 33 one-goal games this season and 15 two-goal games. San Jose was in 30 one-goal games all of last season.

But the Sharks this year have also been flattened by the league’s elite, suffering blowout losses this season to the Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars.

The Capitals were coming off a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

“We can learn a lot from that team over there,” Warsofsky said of the Capitals. “They don’t beat themselves. Teams that win a lot of hockey games, they don’t go on these two, three, four, five game skids. They’re ultra competitive, and they find a way to get back and find different ways to win, and that will be the next step and evolution of our organization.”

With his team down 3-0, new Sharks forward Zack Ostapchuk, at the 14:56 mark of the second period, got into a scrap with Capitals forward Tom Wilson, one of the better fighters in the NHL.

Ostapchuk was trying to provide a spark considering the Sharks were in a 3-0 hole. But Wilson wasn’t happy considering just four days earlier, he needed more than 20 stitches to close a cut after he caught a puck in the face.

“He was fired up and barking at me, using perhaps some colorful language,” Ostapchuk said of Wilson.

“Obviously, I’ve got to work on my skills a little bit. He had me pretty clamped up. Couldn’t get much going in that fight. But it’s a good learning experience.”