After a loud, emotional win over Florida the night before, the Ottawa Senators came out against San Jose looking like a team that still had plenty left in the tank - at least for a while. They grabbed the first goal, kept the puck early, and spent much of the night pushing play. But once the game started to tilt, the breakdowns piled up fast, and the Sharks turned Ottawa’s mistakes into a 6-2 loss.
Samuel Ersson got the start with Linus Ullmark on IR earlier in the day, and Jonas Johansson was brought up from Belleville to back him up. Across the ice, Yaroslav Askarov was in goal for the Sharks, while the Senators were coming off what had been a raucous, well-earned win over the Florida Panthers and the Tkachuk Circus.
Ottawa opened with the better jump, controlling possession and spending time in San Jose’s end. Macklin Celebrini had a strong solo look, but that was one of the few clean openings the Sharks found early. The Senators were rewarded when Dylan Cozens drew a holding penalty from Michael Misa, and Tim Stützle didn’t wait around for the power play to start - he beat Askarov five hole on the delayed call for a 1-0 lead.
The Senators nearly added to it soon after. Carter Yakemchuk appeared to score from the point, only for video review to show he had hit the crossbar and post instead.
A minute later, Claude Giroux also rang one off the iron. Ottawa kept pressing, but San Jose settled in as the period went on, found some extended zone time of its own, and eventually tied it up when Nolan Allan beat Ersson over the shoulder and under the bar.
The Senators still had chances to regain control, but they kept overpassing at key moments and missed opportunities to simply put pucks on net. Late in the first, Michael Amadio took a tripping penalty on Darnell Nurse, but Ottawa’s penalty kill was aggressive and held firm. Even with a late flurry from the Senators, the teams went to the intermission tied 1-1.
The second period unraveled quickly. Artem Zub put the puck right onto Will Smith’s stick in the slot to start things off, though Ersson made the stop.
Then Jake Sanderson tried to cut off Smith’s route to the net, ended up going knee on knee, and was penalized. Without one of its top penalty killers, Ottawa couldn’t clear the zone, and Tyler Toffoli’s wrist shot from the point deflected off Zub in front and in for a San Jose power-play goal.
Things only got worse from there. Darnell Nurse was called for roughing Fabian Zetterlund, and the Senators’ power play immediately turned into a disaster.
After spending most of the first minute getting chances on net, Stephen Halliday coughed up the puck to Collin Graf, and San Jose broke out two-on-one. Graf finished the chance for a shorthanded goal after slipping past Halliday.
Ottawa’s power play stayed on the ice and kept pressing, but Giroux hit his second post of the night. Then, as the power play expired, Jacob Trouba sprung Darnell Nurse coming out of the box, the Senators collapsed on the puck carrier, and Graf found a wide-open Trouba for a tap-in. In the span of four minutes, the Sharks had ripped the game open.
The Senators did have a better look late in the second on a power play of their own, pinning San Jose down and generating chances, but Askarov made a diving glove save to rob Drake Batherson. It was a frustrating finish to a period that had gone off the rails.
Ottawa came out swinging in the third and spent much of the first half of the period in the Sharks’ zone. They kept shooting, kept pressing, and forced Askarov into a heavy workload. Fabian Zetterlund set up Jordan Spence, who snapped a wrist shot past the goalie to make it 4-2 San Jose.
The Senators kept coming after that, throwing everything at Askarov as he stood on his head. With four minutes left, Celebrini tripped Yakemchuk to give Ottawa another power play, and Travis Green pulled Ersson for a 6-on-4.
But Batherson’s pass into the skates of Dylan Cozens led to a turnover, and former Senator Zack Ostapchuk buried the empty-net goal. The Sharks added another empty-netter before the night was done.
Ersson’s final line won’t look pretty, but he was better than the score suggested. The second Sharks goal came on a redirection off Zub, and the third and fourth were tap-ins after blown coverage.
He made solid positional saves, though his rebound control was shaky at times. With Ullmark out for at least a week, Ottawa needs him to hold the line, and he at least gave them a workable performance against San Jose.
There was also enough here for the Senators to feel good about the way they started and the way they kept pushing in the third, even with score effects in play. Their process has looked much sharper since Jake Sanderson returned, and that was on display again, even if the results didn’t follow.
Ottawa gets the New York Rangers next on Saturday, with Dylan Garand or Spencer Martin expected in goal. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM on Sportsnet East.
In Other News...
Senators Rough Night Just Became A Bigger Goalie Problem
The Senators trip through San Jose turned into a rough night in more ways than one, with the Sharks earning their first regulation win of the season in a 6-2 result. Ottawa had already been dealing with shaky results in goal, and the loss came with another reminder of how quickly the position can become a story of its own. Colin Graf paced San Jose with a goal and an assist, while Yaroslav Askarov turned aside 39 shots to help steady the home side.
Ottawas bigger concern, though, came after the final horn, when Linus Ullmark was moved to injured reserve following a lower-body injury suffered the night before. The Senators have been trying to sort out their crease for weeks, and this only adds pressure on the rest of the group to hold things together in the short term. It leaves the club facing a stretch where every save matters a little more, and where the uncertainty in goal may now be as much a lineup issue as a performance one. [Read more 🡒]
Ottawa Fans Have A 67s Breakout Worth Watching Closely
The 67s have turned an opening-night setback into a fast start, running unbeaten through their last six and climbing to a 7-1-2 record. What has made the surge especially notable is the way the offense has come together around Spencer Bowes and Filip Ekberg, with Bowes providing the finishing touch while the two have found real chemistry as the season settles in.
There is more behind the record than just scoring, too. Ottawa has gotten steady goaltending from Jaeden Nelson and rookie Noah LaGambina, along with dependable work on the back end and a penalty kill that has pushed the club into the upper tier nationally. For Senators fans following the organizations development pipeline, the 67s are giving them plenty to track beyond the box score. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Waste Chance To Build Momentum In Frustrating Sharks Loss
A chance to keep building momentum slipped away in San Jose, where Ottawa came up on the wrong end of a 6-2 result despite spending long stretches in the offensive zone. The Senators finished with a 41-26 edge in shots and got goals from Tim Stutzle and Jordan Spence, but the scoreboard never reflected how much time they spent pressing. Instead, the Sharks found timely answers and got the kind of goaltending they had been waiting for from Yaroslav Askarov, whose saves repeatedly kept Ottawa from flipping the game.
For the Senators, the frustrating part was not just the final margin but how many openings went unclaimed. San Jose picked up its first regulation win of the season, while Ottawa was left to wonder how a night with that much puck possession still turned into a lopsided loss. It was the sort of game that can linger, especially for a team looking to turn decent play into actual points. [Read more 🡒]