Vladimir Tarasenko scored with three seconds left to give the Senators a 5-4 victory over San Jose.
The Ottawa Senators snapped their five-game losing streak in dramatic style on Saturday afternoon. Vladimir Tarasenko scored with five seconds left in regulation to give the Senators a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Tim Stutzle led the way for Ottawa with four assists.
With the win, the Senators improved to a record of 15-23-0.
The game started well for Ottawa. Just over four minutes into the first period, Claude Giroux buried a rebound after an Artem Zub point shot. The Senators quickly doubled their lead when Thomas Chabot took a pass from Tarasenko and one-timed the puck over Mackenzie Blackwood’s glove.
Less than three minutes later, the Sharks pushed back, cutting the lead to 2-1. With Chabot providing a perfect screen, former Senator Anthony Duclair scored on a slapshot that Joonas Korpisalo never saw.
The Senators opened the second period strongly but it was the Sharks who struck first. Jakob Chychrun's turnover at the San Jose blue line led to a two-on-one and no one picked up the trailer, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who tied the game at 2.
Kevin Labanc completed the mini-comeback, scoring into a wide open net at 6:20 of the second. With four Senator defenders staring at the puck, Mario Ferraro fed it to Labanc, who was wide open in the slot for an easy go-ahead goal.
51 seconds later, Brady Tkachuk tied the game, taking a beautiful Drake Batherson backhand pass and cleanly beating Blackwood.
The Senators then reclaimed the lead on a goal from Drake Batherson. After a point shot from Zub, the puck landed perfectly on Batherson’s stick, and he promptly snapped it past a diving Blackwood.
In the third, the Senators pushed hard for an insurance goal, but the Sharks hung in there and managed to tie the game at 4, with just under four minutes left in regulation. After a poor Sens breakout attempt, Filip Zadina’s slapshot went top shelf on Korpisalo, who had no chance.
With the game looking bound for overtime, Tarasenko won it for Ottawa with five seconds to go, putting home a rebound off a point shot from Zub. The play was challenged for goalie interference, but the goal stood. Zub finished with three assists.
Senators head coach Jacques Martin was generally pleased with his team's performance.
“I thought we played well but we still made mistakes that cost us," Martin said. “I thought we had a great effort and we played very well. We've just got to keep learning on managing the puck better and recognizing situations.”
With four assists, Stutzle was happy with his performance after his recent struggles.
"I've been struggling a lot, it's tough," Stutzle said. "I believe in myself. I think I'm a really good player. And I think tonight I wanted the puck more. I worked hard in practice yesterday, I just tried to get that swag a little bit back."
Meanwhile, Tarasenko was excited to get the Senators back into the win column.
“I'm not gonna lie, winning is nice," Tarasenko said. "First of all, we shouldn't have allowed the (tying) goal. We should make sure the puck is out so it doesn't get to this nervous situation where we have to score at the end. (But) it's very nice to win a game."
The Senators return to action on Tuesday when they face Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche at 7pm. Montreal will be here on Thursday.