Senators Steal Two Points as Linus Ullmark Goalies the Sharks

I cannot express how badly the Ottawa Senators played against the San Jose Sharks in the wee hours of Wednesday night. For all of Linus Ullmark's struggles in recent weeks, he put together a Herculean effort to absolutely rob the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood also gifted this game to Ottawa, in another sense. Even the lopsided shot count (38-11) fails to capture the futility with which Ottawa played. The Senators could not gain the zone with numbers and the Sharks hemmed the Sens in on at least 80 percent of the shifts. This game hurt to watch. I would have lost my damn mind at one AM if not for those two much-needed points in the standing.

In the first minute Linus Ullmark needed to bail out his defense on a failed zone exit, then Ridly Greig took the first penalty of the game less than two minutes in. Claude Giroux came up big to break up a dangerous looking cycle from the Sharks. Suffice to say, the Sharks led the shot category 5-0 in the first five minutes. It didn't matter because the Senators found themselves on the right side of a goalie-ing early on with Adam Gaudette scoring on Ottawa's first shot of the game. Timmy and Brady got the assists.

Ullmark made another crucial save of the period at just about the eight-minute mark and Shane Pinto wrangled a puck that would have certainly wound up in the empty net on the rebound. At about the 15-minute mark Ullmark outdid himself on a San Jose shot that may or may not have actually counted in the register due to a delayed penalty. San Jose's penalty kill looked a lot more aggressive than Ottawa's but again the Sens got all the luck as Josh Norris converted on some great work from Timmy and Batherson. Make that two goals on three shots for Ottawa.

If you need to contextualize how much puck luck the Sens got in this first period, Ullmark made a save with his ass not knowing he even had the puck under him. Whether luck or skill, Ullmark had the period the Sens have desperately needed from him.

Ottawa started the second period with a lot more purpose and spent a decent amount of time in San Jose's end (albeit without a shot on goal). San Jose nearly scored on their first shot of the period but the post bailed Ullmark out this time around. The Sharks went 5-0 in shots during the ensuing shifts and Ullmark made several more highlight-reel saves. Ottawa prompted the dreaded minutes without a shot clock from the broadcast in the process (not the last time they would do so).

Ottawa did eventually get a couple of shots with Jacob Bernard-Docker of all people getting the best looks of the period but with the Sens finally showing some life, ten minutes into the period, San Jose finally solved Ullmark (he had no chance on the odd-man rush). To reiterate the notes from the broadcast, San Jose feasted on Ottawa's sloppy line changes in this game.

If nothing else, the turn of events seemed to spur Ottawa somewhat--nothing else had gotten their feet moving. I don't know if you can blame the pacific time zone, the new lines and pairings, or playing down to a non-playoff team but the Sens did not look invested in the first 30 minutes of this game (editor's note: nor the latter 30 minutes). On the positive side of things: Ullmark looked fine. He is still that dude when he feels like it.

Speaking of players in desperate need of redemption, Tyler Kleven has taken his fair share of heat from the Sens' fanbase in recent weeks. And while he still makes some ill-advised pinches, I don't know how any Sens fan couldn't enjoy seeing the lanky defender score his first NHL goal in a moment when Ottawa desperately needed to assert themselves offensively.

Ottawa started the third period on the powerplay and as that expired, the Sharks pulled off the dreaded odd-man rush out of the box. Ullmark made what felt like his tenth save of the game candidate. Dude seriously felt like making up for lost time. I think if nothing else, this team has gotten so used to playing with a deficit that watching Ottawa turtle had a renewed impact on my psyche. And if you though any of us could exhale, Macklin Celebrini inevitably scored during a fifteen-plus-minute-without-a-shot stretch for Ottawa. Adding insult to injury, Shane Pinto took a tripping penalty in the neutral zone to perpetuate the suspense.

After nearly a full period of five-on-five futility, Ottawa played a remarkably efficient penalty kill for the most part but the Sens got what they deserved as the Sharks tied the game on their 34th shot of the game. Ottawa still had just ten shots though 55 minutes by the way.

Now if ever you needed some sort of evidence as to just how unfair professional sports can get, Adam Gaudette re-took the lead for Ottawa on the Sens' first shot in 20 minutes. I can imagine how hard done by Sharks fans must have felt at this juncture because I have watched the Sens end up on the wrong end of these games a half-a-dozen times this season. ALWAYS GIVE THE PUCK TO ADAM.

San Jose's late surge with the empty net took off even more years from my life but Ullmark finished what he started. If ever a coach needed to bag skate a team after a win--you know the rest.

Game Notes

• Linus Ullmark all day, every day.
• Keep Cousins out of the lineup please
• Macklin Celebrini will score a lot of goals against the Sens in his career. That top lines for the Sharks played nearly half the game and five minutes more than the top pairing. Wild times.
• Despite how comically bad the Sens played as a team, the big dogs made great individual plays that led to Ottawa's goals.
• Like a lot of fans, I have concerns about Greig and Pinto. A lot of Ottawa's forwards had a rough night and those two stand out as players with a lot of potential who looked lost at five-on-five and only made positive impression on the penalty kill.
• I have no idea what to expect on Saturday in Los Angeles.

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