The San Jose Sharks beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, scoring three unanswered goals in a span of 4:05 during the second period to break the game open. Jacob Trouba finished with a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who got 41 saves from goaltender Yaroslav Askarov despite facing 43 shots.
San Jose trailed 1-0 before Nolan Allan tied it in the first period, then Tyler Toffoli, Collin Graf and Trouba scored in the second to put the Sharks up 4-1. Ottawa’s Jordan Spence cut the deficit to 4-2 in the third, but Zack Ostapchuk and Ivar Stenberg answered with insurance goals to seal the final Sharks vs Senators score. Samuel Ersson stopped 22 of 26 shots for Ottawa before being replaced.
Takeaways From Sharks’ Win Over Senators
San Jose’s special teams flipped the game
The Sharks scored two short-handed goals, something Ottawa did not allow at all on the other side of the special teams ledger. San Jose also converted one of two power-play chances for a 50% rate, while the Senators went 0 for 3 with the man advantage. Despite being outshot 43-28, San Jose made its limited chances count.
Askarov stood on his head in net
Askarov turned aside 41 of 43 shots for a .953 save percentage, including 33 even-strength stops and eight more on Ottawa’s power play. The Senators controlled much of the possession and faceoff battle, winning 38 draws to San Jose’s 30, but could not solve the Sharks goaltender often enough.
Ottawa’s third-period rally fell short
Spence’s goal at 6:24 of the third period, assisted by Fabian Zetterlund and Nikolas Matinpalo, briefly gave the Senators life at 4-2. San Jose shut the door from there, getting goals from Ostapchuk at 16:31 and Stenberg at 19:43 to put the result out of reach.
Player Of The Game: Jacob Trouba
Trouba led all Sharks skaters with a goal and an assist for two points, adding three blocked shots, a takeaway and a plus-3 rating in 23:47 of ice time. His snap-shot goal at 13:18 of the second period, assisted by Graf and Darnell Nurse, pushed San Jose’s lead to 4-1.
Sharks Vs Senators By The Numbers
Ottawa out-shot San Jose 43-28 but lost by four goals, a gap explained largely by Askarov’s .953 save percentage against Ersson’s .846. The Senators won the faceoff battle 38-30 for a 55.9% win rate. San Jose logged 27 hits and 17 blocked shots to Ottawa’s 20 hits and nine blocks, and the Sharks converted two short-handed goals compared to zero for the Senators. San Jose’s power play finished 1 for 2 while Ottawa’s went 0 for 3.
What’s Next
San Jose improved to 6-4-1 and sits at 13 points in the Pacific Division, tied with Seattle but behind Edmonton and Vegas. Ottawa fell to 7-4-0 and 14 points in the Atlantic Division, trailing only Boston and Tampa Bay. San Jose leads the season series against the Senators 1-0. Neither team’s next opponent was listed in the available data.
For more on San Jose’s recent stretch, see the Celebrini Hart Trophy watch and the Sharks’ earlier overtime win over the Blues. Ottawa fans can check on the Eklund injury update and the team’s upcoming matchup preview against the Flyers.
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