San Jose's Special Teams Come Alive, Sharks Defeats Senators 2-1

After suffering a one-sided loss to the Detroit Red Wings the previous night, the San Jose Sharks walked into Ottawa for the second game of back to back games, hoping to bounce back from a game that made it seem like they weren't leading the NHL in points.  The Ottawa Senators were probably hoping a win against the Sharks this year would be a statement to the rest of the league for next year.  After a slow start to the game, the San Jose power play came alive in the second period, as the Sharks scored back to back power play goals to win the game 2-1.

Although the shots were even throughout the night for both teams, the Senators controlled the pace of the game for the first period.  The Sharks looked like the struggling team they were last night, as they took two bad penalties in the first, which led to a power play goal by the Senators after Mike Fisher deflected a Chris Campoli shot from the point to give Ottawa the 1-0 lead.
Things didn't look much better for San Jose to start the second, as the Senators easily killed off two penalties to start the period.  But Brian Lee was then called for a phantom holding penalty, which caused him to become visibly upset at the referee.  The referee took offense, and added an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct to give San Jose a 4 minute power play.  The Sharks jumped all over the opportunity.  With seconds left in the first of the two minors, Joe Pavelski drove hard to the net, got his own rebound behind the net, and passed the puck in front to Milan Michalek who squeezed the puck between Alex Auld's legs to tie the game at 1-1.  The Sharks then had another two minutes to work with, and a minute and a half later, Jeremy Roenick shot a one-timer off Patrick Marleau's skate to give the Sharks the lead 2-1.  Marleau would get credit for the goal, his 34th of the year.  Things opened up midway through the third, and Brian Boucher made multiple key saves in the last few minutes of the third as the Senators came roaring back on offense, including a couple of consecutive chances for Jason Spezza which were denied by the San Jose backup goaltender.  Marleau missed Ottawa's empty net in the last minute of the third as the Senators pulled Auld for an extra skater, but it didn't matter as the Sharks held back the late rally by Ottawa to get a bounce back win on the road 2-1.

For the 7th time in the last 8 road games, the San Jose Sharks have given up the first goal of the game.  In those 7 games, the Sharks are 2-2-3.  The Ottawa Senators have not beaten the Sharks since 2003, in a game where they won 4-1.  They had a chance against Boucher, who won tonight for the first time in his career against Ottawa in 7 starts against the Senators.  The win was also Boucher's 10th of the season in 14 starts, where he is 10-1-2.  After going 1 for 8 on the power play in Detroit, San Jose went 2 for 4 with the man advantage in Ottawa.  The Senators were 1 for 4 on the power play.  All 3 goals in the game were scored on special teams.  San Jose now heads to Montreal, for a game Saturday night against the Canadiens who are battling for a late playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.