Facing a 23-year-old rookie goalie with zero career wins, the Senators lost their seventh game in a row.
On Saturday night, the Ottawa Senators managed to find an opponent that’s even colder than they are. Heading into San Jose, the Sens had lost six straight games. But that was nothing compared to the Sharks, the last place team in the NHL. San Jose had just lost nine in a row, just sold off two of their top five scorers, and started a rookie goalie who’s never won an NHL game before.
Senators fans who’ve been watching this team closely knew exactly what would happen.
The Sens lost their seventh in a row, falling 2-1 to the Sharks.
Magnus Chrona, who entered the game with a 5.81 goals against average and an .830 save percentage, got his first career win in his fourth career start. The Sens outshot San Jose 32-21.
The two clubs spent the first two periods trading power play goals.
After a pretty marginal tripping call on Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Bordeleau made it 1-0 San Jose, deflecting one in off his knee. It looked more like a hacky sack move than a hockey one.
The Senators got even with their own power play goal in the second when Tim Stutzle walked off the wall and beat Sharks goalie Magnus Chrona with a snapshot. Remarkably, it was Stutzle’s first power play goal of the season. He still has just 14 power play points this year, exactly half of what he had last season.
Five minutes later, again on the power play, Bordeleau struck again, one timing a pass from down below the goal line.
That was all the damage required as the Sharks hung on to snap their nine game skid, allowing just one goal on the night. San Jose had given up 14 goals in their last two games.
The Ottawa loss comes one week after the Arizona Coyotes broke a 14-game skid agaist the Sens.
The Sens now limp home from their third long road trip (four games or more) this season where they came home winless. They'll host Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.