Michael Misa scored, but the San Jose Sharks never found enough to match the Ottawa Senators and fell 5-1 at SAP Center.
The Sharks opened the night looking sluggish, and that tone carried over early. San Jose struggled to get into a rhythm, with several possessions breaking down because the simpler play was there and went unused. On one early sequence, Marchment tried to hold onto the puck high in the offensive zone with his back turned instead of getting it deep, and the Sharks kept running into the same problem: trying to force offense before they had earned territory.
Still, the Sharks did start to show signs of life later in the first period. The Celebrini line generated the first real burst of 5-on-5 pressure, and San Jose began to look more dangerous after the midway point.
Bystedt also showed a willingness to shoot, firing wide off an offensive-zone draw and then getting another puck to the net that forced a tougher save. But the period still ended with a frustrating sequence when Bystedt chose a safe rim up the wall that was intercepted, a moment that left San Jose defending longer than it needed to.
Ottawa got on the board first when Cozens scored, a goal that left Nedeljkovic with one he needed to stop. The Sharks answered with Misa’s goal, and that one came from a strong, gritty sequence.
Trouba helped drive the play through the neutral zone, Sherwood kept the puck alive along the wall, and Trouba then read the play well, attacked the slot, and got the puck back before finding Misa alone for the tap-in. It was an easy finish, but the work behind it was anything but.
The second period turned sharply against San Jose. Batherson scored on what was described as tissue-paper defense, with the Sharks slow to sort out the coverage and not doing enough to stop the pass or handle Batherson’s movement.
Soon after, Greig beat Marchment up the ice, and Ottawa kept finding ways to turn Sharks mistakes into chances. San Jose did have a good response from Graf, who helped create a Smith chance and then helped win the puck back for another one, but the overall trend was still leaning Ottawa’s way.
The Senators then pulled away. Stutzle scored after Misa was taken out of the play by Kleven, leaving Stutzle able to walk in without much resistance.
Later, Greig struck again for a short-handed goal, using his speed to punish Smith on the rush. The sequence started after Stenberg flubbed a saucer pass from Celebrini in the slot, and the Sharks never recovered from there.
There was also a post-whistle collision between Goodrow and Zub that turned into a scrap, though it was not clear exactly what set it off.
In the third, San Jose’s penalty kill delivered a strong 5-on-3 stop, and the crowd responded. But the Sharks could not turn that into momentum.
Misa spent time with Celebrini and Smith and helped create a little offense, and Kesselring drew a call after pushing the attack, but the power play never really clicked. The second unit’s high exchange later in the period was another example of San Jose overcomplicating things when a simpler low-to-high approach might have been better.
Celebrini’s line was the Sharks’ best group on the night, but it still wasn’t enough to carry the team. Celebrini has now gone five games without a goal, with just two assists in his last five. The Sharks remain a one-line team when he isn’t producing, and on this night, even his line needed more help than it got.
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