Sharks Outcoached and Outplayed Once Again, Fall to Injury-Riddled Senators

The San Jose Sharks were able to steal a win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night and they were looking to bounce back with a more convincing performance against the Ottawa Senators in a Halloween matinee. Instead, the Sharks starred in a horror movie of their own.

Much like they did in the majority of the game against the Canucks, the Sharks looked lost for most of the night. It seemed like they had no clue what they were supposed to be doing and their play reflected that. Players were often caught out of position, puck watching, or just clueless at times. As a result, they were defeated by the Senators in very convincing fashion.

The Senators came out of the gate with an immense amount of pressure, controlling the game for quite a while in the opening minutes. The Sharks took eight minutes to get their first shot on goal, which was a dump from the neutral zone that went to Senators netminder Sam Ersson. That did seemingly start some momentum for the Sharks, as they started showing more signs of life during the middle of the period.

Despite the Sharks starting to look better, Dylan Cozens scored the game's opening goal at 13:24 of the first period. On the rush, he scored five-hole on Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, who certainly would've wanted that one back.

The Sharks tied things up at 16:06 in the period, as Jacob Trouba and Kiefer Sherwood were relentless on the forecheck and forced a turnover. Trouba then found Michael Misa in front of the net, who slotted the puck past Ersson to make it a 1-1 hockey game. The Senators had quite a bit of pressure at the end of the period, but the Sharks were saved by the bell as time expired before they were able to get a go-ahead goal. 

The second period started similarly to the first, with the Senators controlling most of the play. Unsurprisingly, Drake Batherson, who has been on a heater as of late, broke the tie with his ninth goal of the season. Once again, it was a goal that Nedeljkovic would certainly want back, as it bounced off of his glove and into the back of the net. 

Tim Stutzle doubled the Senators' lead at 10:54 of the middle frame after Michael Misa was laid out in the neutral zone, giving the Senators a strong opportunity on the rush. 

The Sharks got their first power play of the night shortly after the halfway point of the game, as Fabian Zetterlund sat for a bench minor too many men penalty. 39 seconds into the power play, Ridley Greig scored Ottawa's fourth goal of the night, and his first shorthanded goal of the season, on the rush to make it a 4-1 game. 

At 3:46 in the third period, both Jacob Trouba and Sam Dickinson each took a penalty, giving the Senators a full two minutes of 5-on-3 hockey which the Sharks penalty kill was able to survive.

Shane Pinto then added an empty net goal, increasing the Senators' lead to 5-1 and securing the victory. 

It was another poor performance by the Sharks and this time they weren't able to rally enough to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat.