Senators Hand Sharks Eighth-Straight Loss

The Ottawa Senators kicked off the month of March with a 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Brady Tkachuk and Shane Pinto both recorded goals in their return from injury, while David Perron, Tim Stützle and Michael Amadio all scored as well. Stützle also recorded an assist for a two-point night, while Ridly Greig had two assists of his own.

Shane Pinto wasted no time making an impact in his first game back. At 11:05 into the first following a holding penalty against Matthew Highmore, Ridly Greig sent Pinto on a breakaway to score shorthanded. Pinto’s 12th of the season, the lone assist on the goal went to Greig.

The second half of the first period remained scoreless, though the physicality began to ramp up towards the end. After the opening 20, the Senators held a 1-0 lead thanks to Pinto’s shorthanded goal.

The Sharks tied the game 1-1 at 5:17 into the second following a roughing penalty against Brady Tkachuk. It was Tyler Toffoli that scored his 22nd goal of the season on the Sharks’ power play.

Another power play opportunity for the Sharks led to another power play goal at 9:47 into the second period. A holding penalty to Thomas Chabot saw Timothy Liljegren score his fifth goal of the season on the power play to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead.

The rest of the period was scoreless, however a roughing penalty to Mario Ferraro in the final seconds of the second meant the Senators would start the final frame with a power play opportunity.

Tying the game on a five-on-three power play just 1:26 into the third was none other than captain Brady Tkachuk in his first game back from injury. His 22nd of the season, Tkachuk’s goal was assisted by Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson. With the assist on Tkachuk’s goal, Stützle extended his point streak to 11 games and his assist streak to 10.

Just 1:34 later, the puck took an awkward bounce off the boards and caught goaltender Vitek Vanecek outside of his crease, leaving the net wide open. Tim Stützle was quick to capitalize and made no mistake in burying the puck into the back of the net to restore the Senators’ lead at 3-2. Stützle’s 19th goal of the season was assisted by Ridly Greig, his second of the evening.

Nearing the halfway mark of the period at 8:31, David Perron picked up the rebound off a shot from Thomas Chabot to roof the puck Vanecek and double the Senators’ lead to two at 4-2. Perron’s second goal of the season, Thomas Chabot and Drake Batherson both received assists.

With 1:27 to play, an empty net and a power play opportunity, Will Smith scored his 10th goal of the season to cut the Senators lead to 4-3.

Just 27 seconds later, Michael Amadio answered back to score his sixth goal of the season into the empty net, restoring the Senators two-goal lead at 5-3. Picking up the lone assist on the goal was Artem Zub.

The Senators shut down any further attempts at a comeback from the Sharks and closed out the evening with a 5-3 victory.

Up next is a two-game road trip which kicks off in Washington on Monday when the Senators close out their three-game season series against the Capitals at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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