The San Jose Sharks dominated early, but ended up losing 4-2 to the Ottawa Senators at SAP Center on Wednesday night.
Prior to the matchup, Joe Thornton had two assists against the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 2. He is currently alone in the 25th rank of all-time points in the NHL.
Senators goalie Mike Condon made his sixth straight start in place of Craig Anderson, who returned to Ottawa on Tuesday to be with his wife, who is having cancer treatment.
Sharks goalie Martin Jones played against the Senators for the first time in his career.
Tommy Wingels went to the box for hooking at 3:09. Shortly after, Mike Hoffman fired a shot that bounced around in front before Mike Stone slammed it past Jones on the power play for a 1-0 Senators lead.
Erik Karlsson made it 2-0 Senators with an unassisted goal at 7:19. Karlsson took the puck from the high slot and sent a wrist shot past Jones to score his seventh goal of the season.
The Sharks trailed 2-0 after the first period, despite outshooting the Senators 9-6.
Taylor Pyatt redirected a shot from Zack Smith past Jones, but the blade of his stick was over the crossbar. The score was still 2-0 Senators at 19:10.
Karlsson went to the box for holding at 6:54. The Sharks then capitalized on their third power play of the game and cut the lead in half when Logan Couture one-timed a wrist shot past Condon for his 10th goal of the season.
The Sharks outshot the Senators 19-11, but continued to trail 2-1 after two periods.
The Senators made some mistakes in the second, but the Sharks allowed a power-play goal. The only way San Jose could possibly mount a comeback is to capitalize on the man advantage because Ottawa has scored seven power-play goals in their last five games.
Since Dion Phaneuf took a late penalty for interference with 33 seconds left in the second period, 87 seconds of the Sharks’ fifth power play was carried into the third period. Fortunately, San Jose was able to cash in on a power-play opportunity.
Condon blocked Pavelski’s shot with his gloves to save a goal, then made a crazy save to block a Brent Burns slap shot.
After Mikkel Boedker was called for interference, the Senators went on their third power play of the game, but it didn’t go in Ottawa’s favor.
Burns grabbed the puck near the top of the circle and fired a wrist shot that beat Condon to tie the game 2-2 at 6:30. Burns’ game-tying goal was also the Sharks’ first 4-on-4 goal of the season. With the lone assist on Burns’ 11th goal of the season, Paul Martin recorded his 300th NHL point.
Chris Kelly scored on a breakaway that bounced over two Sharks’ sticks to put the Senators ahead 3-2 with 1:06 left in regulation.
Just 50 seconds later, Jean-Gabriel Pageau added an empty-net goal to seal the Senators’ 4-2 win over the Sharks.
Condon finished with 35 saves in an Ottawa victory. Jones made 13 saves in a losing effort for San Jose.
Up Next
The Sharks will head to Southern California to face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PST on CSCA, PT25.
