San Jose traveled to Canada's capitol to face
off in the battle of the basement dwellers. The Eastern Conference's worst team
in the Ottawa Senators scored a go-ahead goal with 3.3 seconds remaining in
regulation to win for the first time in 2024, and send the Sharks to their 33rd
loss in 43 games this season. The 5-4 loss snapped the Sharks 1-game winning
streak.
Claude Giroux opened the game's scoring at 4:12 of the opening
period, depositing a rebound chance that found his stick via a fortuitous
rebound off a Sharks skate. Brady Tkachuk had fired a shot from the top of the
right circle, but Mackenzie Blackwood made the initial save. the rebound hit a
sharks defender on the left side, kicking it over to Giroux who was lurking
near between the slot and the bottom of the right circle.
Thomas
Chabot converted his 1st goal of the season at 9:58, taking advantage of the
Sharks defense who were caught in their own zone on a long shift. The
defenseman pinched from the left point, firing a shot from the left dot to beat
Blackwood.
The Sharks went on to score the next three goals to grab a
3-2 lead, which would be short lived.
Anthony Duclair halved the
Senators lead at 12:35, one timing a shot from the high slot for his 8th tally
of the season. Alexander Barabnov fed Duclair the puck from the left wing
boards, but it was Mikael Granlund's interference out in front of the net that
helped the puck get past Senators goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.
The old
man, Marc-Edouard Vlasic used a rare roster appearance to score his 1st goal of
the season 3:53 into the 2nd period. The Sharks entered the zone with Granlund
and Duclair spreading the Senators defense. Granlund fed Duclair with a rink
wide pass to the right wing, but rather than shoot the puck, Duclair drew
Korpisalo out of the net and fed a trailing Vlasic in the slot for a shot into
a wide open net.
Kevin Labanc made it a 2-2 game 2:27 later after
trading passes with Mario Ferraro. The Sharks forward collected a Mike Hoffman
pass as he skated up the right side. Spotting Ferraro on the far side, he
whipped a pass to Ferraro who forced Korpisalo to come out on the defenseman.
Labanc skated off the right wing boards when Ferraro returned the puck for a
slam dunk goal.
The Sharks lead lasted less than a minute when Tkachuk
deposited his 18th goal of the season at 7:11. Ducair failed to control the
puck along the boards when Drake Batherson picked his pocket and sent a
back-hand pass through the slot to Tkachuk on the right side for a one-time
chance that beat Blackwood low to the glove side.
Ottawa regained the
lead at 12:59 of the period when Batherson punched home a big rebound off an
Artem Zub shot from the high slot. Batherson was in the right place at the
right time on the left side when the rebound kicked out25 feet to the forward.
Blackwood really saved the Sharks from a worse fate
in the period. Ottawa out-shot San Jose 22-4 in the 2nd frame alone, each team
would pot a pair of goals.
It looked as if the same shot disparity
would muzzle the Sharks in the 3rd period, but Filip Zadina would score the
equalizer with just over 3 minutes left in regulation. Ferraro saved possession
of the zone when he blocked a clearing attempt with his legs at the blueline,
then fed Tomas Hertl on the left side. Hertl took a look at Korpisalo, then
sent a blind pass to his right where Zadina one-timed his 5th of the season
home.
It looked as if the game would head to overtime, but San Jose
couldn't clear the puck in the final minute. Vladimir punched home a rebound
with 3.3 seconds left in regulation for the back-breaking goal. The play would
be reviewed as the Senators forward pushed forward Justin Bailey into
Blackwood, but the review deemed it not to be goaltender interference.
Bailey really had no business allowing an opponent half his size to manhandle
him in the crease area. Blackwood had no way to defend the shot and the Sharks
were losers for the 30th time in regulation this season.
Game
Notes: * The Sharks travel itinerary had called for a flight to
Buffalo following Saturday's game, but the Buffalo airport was closed due to
the winter storm that has blanketed the region.
* The NHL announced
that their game on Monday in Buffalo has moved to a Noon start in Western New
York, which is 9:00am on the West Coast. The move is being made to accommodate
the Buffalo Bills playoff game.
* Mario Ferraro had 3 assists in the
game.
* Anthony Duclair had a 2 point game with a goal and an assist.
* Filip Zadina led all Sharks with 5 shots on goal. Artem Zub led all
skaters with 7 shots.