Senators 4, Sharks 2
OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators scored four unanswered goals en route to a 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
It was only the second loss against 13 wins the Sharks suffered after scoring the game's first goal.
Senators goaltender Craig Anderson and Sharks goalie Alex Stalock were both solid, as Ottawa outshot San Jose 35-33.
The win was just the second in five games for the Senators (17-11-5), while the Sharks (16-15-1) had their winning streak stopped at two games.
Second period goals by Sharks center Joe Thornton and Senators winger Bobby Ryan sent the teams into the final 20 minutes tied 1-1.
Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau pulled the Senators ahead at 8:22 of the third on a play he started by winning the face-off cleanly at the right wing dot in the offensive zone. The puck went back to defensemen Cody Ceci, whose high shot was stopped by Stalock, but the rebound came out in the high slot to Senators winger Dave Dziurzynski, who fired it between the goalie's legs. As the puck slowly rolled to the goal line, Pageau jumped up to poke it in for his ninth of the season.
Senators defensemen Chris Wideman made it 3-1 when he snapped a shot through a crowd at the 13:06 mark for his fourth of the season.
Senators defensemen Erik Karlsson completed a 2-on-1 with winger Mike Hoffman for his eight at 15:51 for a 4-1 advantage.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns converted from a scramble at 17:36 to pull one back.
Thornton's fifth of the season came just 29 seconds into the middle frame with the Sharks on a power play. Positioned near the top of the left wing face-off circle, Thornton took a no-look pass from Burns and beat Anderson with a low shot to the stick side.
Ryan struck just 4 minutes, 17 seconds later to knot the count with his 11th of the campaign. After crossing the blue line, Ryan deked Sharks defenseman Justin Braun then cut to the net, where he jammed the puck between Stalock's pads.
NOTES: Sharks G Alex Stalock played his ninth game of the season and faced the Senators for the second time in his career. Stalock made 38 saves in a 5-2 Sharks victory at Canadian Tire Centre in his first NHL start Oct. 27, 2013. ... Sharks C Barclay Goodrow replaced RW Mike Brown in San Jose's only lineup change. ... Senators D Jared Cowen was a healthy scratch for just the second time this season. The writing was on the wall for the 2009 first-round pick, who played a career-low 11:08 in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Capitals. ... Senators LW Shane Prince played for the first time since Dec. 6. He was a healthy scratch the last five games. The return of Prince meant Senators D Mark Borowiecki went back to his regular post on the blue line. For the past five games he had been used primarily as a winger.