Senators score four straight, pull away from Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Tim Stutzle, Dylan Cozens and Shane Pinto each had a goal and an assist for the Ottawa Senators, who pulled away with four straight goals and defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-1 at SAP Center on Saturday.

Drake Batherson scored to extend his point streak to seven games (six goals, six assists) and Ridly Greig had a short-handed goal for the Senators (9-5-1), who had lost two straight and are 1-1-1 on a five-game road trip. Samuel Ersson made 22 saves for his first victory with Ottawa, and Jake Sanderson had two assists.

"From the drop of the puck till the end of the game, we were on top of our game," Ottawa coach Travis Green said. "They've got a good offensive team, and I thought we did a real good job playing behind them and making them play in their zone."

Michael Misa scored for the Sharks (7-7-1), who have lost three of their past four. Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves.

"We were just slow all night. Got outworked all over the ice," San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "Started in the first 10 minutes. Probably got it going a little bit, but wasn't even close." 

Batherson put the Senators ahead for good by making it 2-1 at 5:04 of the second period. He scored on the rush with a wrist shot from the inside edge of right face-off circle after taking Philip Tomasino’s return pass from the right point.

"He's probably one of the most skilled guys I've ever seen,” Tomasino said of Batherson. “For me, I just try to do a little bit of everything."

Stutzle extended the lead to 3-1 at 10:54. Sanderson took a drop pass from Cozens at the top of the right circle and found Stutzle on the left wing, where his wrist shot beat Nedeljkovic over the blocker.

Greig made it 4-1 with a short-handed goal at 12:17. Pinto found him skating down the middle on a 2-on-1, and Greig made a move to the backhand to beat Nedeljkovic by his left pad.

Pinto added an empty-net goal at 17:30 of the third period for the 5-1 final.

Cozens had put the Senators up 1-0 at 13:25 of the first period. He took a pass from Stutzle, raced down the right wing around San Jose defenseman Darnell Nurse and put a snap shot through Nedeljkovic's five-hole.

"(Stutzle's) such a great player. He creates so much space, and it's fun to play with him tonight," Cozens said. "I think we had some chances with (Fabian Zetterlund) too, and we were able to sustain some O-zone time."

Misa tied it 1-1 at 16:06. Jacob Trouba had his shot from low in the right circle stopped by Ersson before collecting his own rebound and feeding Misa at the edge of the crease, where he finished into an open net.

"I didn't even know that puck was coming, and he got it to me," Misa said of Trouba. "He's a great defenseman."

NOTES: Stutzle and Batherson tied Marian Hossa (nine in 1999) and Alexei Yashin (nine in 1996) for the second-most goals by a Senators player in an October. Bob Kudelski scored 10 in October of 1993. Stutzle’s 21 points in the month are also the most by any Ottawa player in an October. … Ersson entered Saturday 0-3-1 in six games (three starts) this season. He was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs on June 26. … Senators forward Hayden Hodgson served the first of a two-game suspension for boarding Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke during Ottawa’s 6-5 overtime loss on Thursday.