Sens Break the Losing Streak with 5-3 Win

It wasn't the start they were looking for. At first the two teams traded (weak) chances, and looked evenly matched - not a good thing against the last place team - but that only lasted for a few minutes before the tides started to turn towards the Sharks. They still weren't getting very good chances, but Ottawa wasn't getting any and the Sharks were controlling the flow of play. That tends to either mean a goal or a penalty is coming, and it was Matthew Highmore taking a holding call against Klim Kostin to put the Sens on the kill.

But the Senators got reinforcements today. A little over half way through the penalty, a Sharks pass ended up in William Eklund's skates and trickled out towards the blue line. Great pressure from Ridly Greig forced Jake Walman to misplay the puck out into the neutral zone - Greig chased it down, and fed it to a rushing Shane Pinto all alone riiiiiight at the Sharks blue line. Free and clear, Pinto rang it off both posts and in to give the Sens the 1-0 lead (while being out-shot 11-2).

That slammed the brakes on the Sharks momentum. They managed one more shot on net right after the Highmore penalty expired, and generated absolutely no offense for the rest of the period. Ottawa didn't manage much for the rest of the period at 5 on 5 either, but Tim Stützle did draw a slashing call to give the Sens the man advantage.

The power play looked okay - better than the Sharks PP at least - but the one good chance ended with a scrum around the Sharks net, and Walman took offense to Tkachuk poking at the puck that Vitek Vanecek didn't quite have controlled yet. The pair squared off, but it didn't quite turn into a fight and they ended up with matching roughing minors.

The second period started all Ottawa, but during a net-front scrum one of Tkachuk's nudges connected with Walman's head and landed in the penalty box again. No short handed heroics on this one - a Tyler Toffoli pass intended for Macklin Celebrini alone at the far post went off the skate of Jake Sanderson and in, as he scrambled to cover Celebrini.

Ottawa would get another chance at the power play shortly after, when Ty Dellandrea would stick out a knee on Gaudette and get called for tripping. The Sens power play looked solid, but couldn't beat Vanecek to regain the lead.

Shortly after the Dellandrea penalty ended, Thomas Chabot was called for holding on Celebrini. The penalty kill was looking pretty good, until a shot from the blue line from Timothy Liljegren found it's way through traffic and over Linus Ullmark's shoulder for the lead.

The Sharks briefly found some life, but after a few shots Ottawa turned up the heat. In a nearly three and a half minute stretch, the Sens looked like they were on the power play with the Sharks completely unable to get hold of the puck, and only managing to get the puck out of their zone long enough for a partial line change. Unfortunately, the Sens ultimately couldn't take advantage of the dead tired defenders to even things up.

A very late power play resulted in a quick flurry of chances to close the period out, but they would head to the dressing room still on the man advantage but down by a goal.

They'd start out the third period with the same momentum, which resulted in the Sharks putting the puck clear over the glass and giving Ottawa an extended 5-on-3. After having to regroup and regain the zone, Stützle found Tkachuk all alone at the top of the circle. Rather than the one-timer you'd see most of the time on that kind of play, Brady settled the puck and picked his moment to fire a wrister past Vanecek at distance to tie the game up.

Just 1:34 later, Greig fired the puck into the corner for a dump and chase. Vanecek went behind the net to play it as it went around - but it took a funny bounce and ended up out in front of the net where Stützle fired it into the mostly-empty net for the first even strength goal of the night.

The Senators weren't done there. On a rush down the ice, Thomas Chabot fired a puck on net - Vanecek got a toe on it, but David Perron was right there to collect the puck. Similar to Tkachuk's goal, he had the patience to get control of the puck and pick his moment to get the easy tap-in rather than trying for the quick rebound to put the Sens up by two. The Sharks took over from there. Ullmark had to be sharp at points - especially with a huge toe save on Luke Kunin with about five minutes to go.

With a minute and a half left with a Sharks power play and empty net, a brutal cross check to the back of Sanderson's neck by Toffoli was completely missed by the refs and seconds later Celebrini put the puck past Ullmark. Worse than the goal on the play was Sanderson being slow to get up and heading to the dressing room. He didn't return, but with so little time left in the game I wouldn't read too much into that.

Back within one, San Jose was quick to pull the goalie again but this time they paid the price when Michael Amadio was first on a loose puck and took it down the ice to cut the Sharks comeback off before it really got started. 5-3 final for your Ottawa Senators.

Notes

• Man, Celebrini looks good. Felt like he was behind every other dangerous moment around the Senators net
• Drake Batherson looks like he's gripping the stick a bit too much right now
• Tim Stützle's point streak has extended to 11 games, and has entered it's fifth week
• Out of town scoreboard was not terribly kind. Columbus derailing the Red Wings in their back to back is probably good (and in regulation is definitely good), but the Bruins, Habs, Islanders, Flyers and Lightning all won. Tampa is probably out of reach now unless the implode
• Josh Norris didn't leave the game, but was looking like his shoulder was bothering him late in the third and even was allowed to change during an icing call against
• Toffoli got away with it on the ice, but I wonder if he gets a call from player safety on that cross check to Sanderson's neck
• Good to get the win, especially to break the losing streak, but this game was way too up and down given the gap between the Sens and Sharks in the standings

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