Sharks Fall Short Again, Lose 5-3 to Senators for eighth loss in a row; Sens end 5 game skid

San Jose Sharks William Eklund (72) takes a shot on Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Sat Mar 1, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-3 to the Ottawa Senators Saturday. Shane Pinto, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, David Perron and Michael Amadio scored for the Senators. Linus Ullmark made 34 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli, Timothy Liljegren and Will Smith scored for the Sharks. Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves in the loss.

Once again, the Sharks gave up a lead to lose the game. “It sucks. It feels like we’ve been playing pretty good hockey. So, it’s just an unfortunate loss,” said Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro. The Sharks power play did well, scoring in three of four chances. It also did badly, giving up a short-handed goal on that fourth try, which was actually their first of the game. That was emblematic of the team’s frustrations lately. It is difficult to see the good in their game when they keep losing.

“I liked our start, we did some good things. Obviously a couple bounces. I didn’t like that line change that we had. We gave up an easy goal,” Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of the fourth Ottawa goal.

Shane Pinto started the scoring at 11:05 of the first period, short-handed. After pushing the puck out of the zone, Pinto started skating while Ridly Greig gathered up the puck and passed it ahead of Pinto. Pinto skated into the Sharks zone with no one between him and Vanecek.

Tyler Toffoli tied the game with a power play goal at 5:17 of the second period. Toffoli’s shot from the goal line went off of a Senator and into the net. Assists went to Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini.

Timothey Liljegren gave the Sharks the lead with a second power play goal at 9:47. Liljegren scored with a shot from the blue line through traffic. Assists went to Alexander Wennberg and Klim Kostin.

Brady Tkachuk tied the game again at 1:26 of the third period with a power play goal. Tim Stützle carried the puck in, then passed it across and back to Tkachuk for the shot. Assists went to Stützle and Jake Sanderson.

Tim Stützle gave the Senators a 3-2 lead at the three minute mark. Greig sent the puck in and off the end boards, where it bounced to the front of the net to meet Stützle.

David Perron made it 4-2 at 8:31. Thomas Chabot carried the puck in and took a shot that created a rebound for Perron to gather up and put in the net. Assists went to Chabot and Drake Batherson.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender for an extra skater with more than two minutes left. Soon enough, they drew a tripping penalty and got a power play. Will Smith made it 4-3 with a third power play goal. Assists went to William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini.

The Sharks kept their net empty and with one minute left, Michael Amadio scored into that empty net. An assist went to Artem Zub.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 4:30 PM PT in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

Sharks Lose 5-0 to Golden Knights; Ex-Shark goalie Hill shuts out old team

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez (23) celebrates with teammates after scoring a first period goal against the San Jose Sharks at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Fri Nov 10, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were shut out 5-0 by the Vegas Golden Knights Friday at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights got goals from Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson and Brett Howden, and two goals from Alec Martinez. Adin Hill made 20 saves for the win. Kaapo Kahkonen made 34 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach David Quinn said:

“Right from the get-go we looked flat for sure. You know, getting down again 2-0 certainly didn’t help our cause. We were half a step behind all night long. We defended way too much, weren’t able to end plays and just were chasing the game really from the drop of the puck.”

Alex Pietrangelo started the scoring just a minute into the game with a wrap around shot. With some activity in front of the net, Pietrangelo avoided all of that and carried the puck behind the net to tuck it in before Kahkonen could get across. Assists went to Michael Amadio and Mark Stone.

Alec Martinez made it 2-0 at 11:19 of the period. Amadio passed the puck up to the blue line for Martinez to take a slap shot that Kahkonen did not seem to see coming. Assists went to Amadio and William Carrier.

Ten minutes into the first period, the Sharks had just one shot on goal, even after a power play. In that light, the six shots for the period indicated that the team improved significantly as the period went on. Still, the Golden Knights had 15. And, in the second period, the Sharks still tallied just six shots.

William Karlsson made it 3-0 with a short-handed goal 2:24 into the third period. Karlsson and Jack Eichel broke away and got around the Sharks defenders. Eichel made the cross-ice pass and Karlsson put it away. Assists went to Eichel and Pietrangelo.

Alec Martinez scored his second of the game, making it 4-0 at 4:40. There was no one between Martinez and Kahkonen, and Martinez had time to pick his shot. He chose to put it just under the top bar. Assists went to Pietrangelo and Karlsson.

Brett Howden scored the fifth goal for Vegas. He got the puck away from Mikael Granlund behind the net. Bounced to Jonas Rondbjerg, who took a shot that Kahkonen stopped. But the rebound came back out to Howden and he was able to snap it in.

The Sharks had three power plays in the third period for a total of four in the game. The Golden Knights had none. The Sharks did well in the face-off circle, winning 33 of 59 draws. Tomas Hertl led the Sharks in shots with five and Mikael Granlund had four. Anthony Duclair did not play on Friday due to illness.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 5:00 PM PT in Anaheim against the Ducks.