San Jose Sharks Falter In Third Period Against Senators
For two-and-a-half periods, the San Jose Sharks were playing a perfect road game. They were tied 1-1 with the Ottawa Senators midway through the third period and looking to win their third straight game.
Unfortunately, the wheels came off for San Jose as the Sharks would surrender three consecutive goals in a seven-minute span to fall in Ottawa by a 4-2 final.
It all started with a bad break for San Jose as Cody Ceci took a shot from the point which hit Alex Stalock square in the mask and looked to cause an issue. With Stalock in scramble mode, Dave Dziurzynski would take a shot that trickled by Stalock before Jean-Gabriel Pageau could usher it over the goal line.
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From that point on, it was all Ottawa as Chris Wideman and Erik Karlsson would also find the back of the net, and before you knew it, San Jose was down three goals. Brent Burns scored his 12th goal of the season with two-and-a-half minutes remaining, but it was too little too late for the Sharks on this night.
After a first period that saw plenty of scoring chances at either end of the ice, it was Joe Thornton who would open the scoring in this one taking a cross-ice feed from Burns and wristing one past Craig Anderson for his fifth goal of the year on the power play just 29 seconds into the middle frame.
However, Bobby Ryan would use a great individual effort off a soft clearing attempt from Justin Braun and squeeze one in between the pads of Stalock to even things up at one.
It was a fairly even hockey game between these two, but the Senators were able to capitalize on their chances and bounces when they arose. The Sharks did a poor job of responding once they gave up the second goal in an unfortunate situation, and were exposed by Ottawa when they tried to get back into the game.
The task for the boys in teal is to regroup and ensure this loss doesn’t snow ball into multiple as has happened on too many occasions this season.
Next: Burns Lifts Sharks Past Maple Leafs In Overtime
San Jose now heads back to the States where they will wrap up their road trip against two of the best teams in the Western Conference: the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings. Let’s see how much gas is left in the tank and if the Sharks can end this trip on a high note.