Kelly goal lifts Senators past Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Chris Kelly's tiebreaking goal at 18:54 of the third period enabled the Ottawa Senators to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 at SAP Center on Wednesday.
Kelly picked up a bouncing puck that neither Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic nor Justin Braun could handle at center to break in alone on Martin Jones. Kelly scored just his second goal of the season on the play.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau added an empty-net goal with 15.1 seconds left.
San Jose, which outshot Ottawa 37-17, saw its three-game winning streak snapped while the Senators won for the second time in five games.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns tied the game with his 11th goal of the season at 6:30 of the third period.
Burns wrist shot from the top of the right circle sailed over the left glove of Ottawa goalie Mike Condon while the teams were skating 4-on-4. San Jose defenseman Paul Martin earned his 300th career point on the lone assist.
The Sharks in the first period looked very much like a team that was playing their first game after four days of being idle. And the visiting Senators took advantage of the hosts' slow start to score twice in the opening eight minutes.
Ottawa broke through on the game's first power play when Mark Stone scored his ninth goal of the season at 3:42. The Senators came in with a hot power play -- 7 for 20 over five games.
With San Jose fourth-line center Tommy Wingels off for a hook, Stone backhanded a rebound over the right pad of Sharks goalie Martin Jones after Mike Hoffman's drive toward the net deflected to Stone off the skate of Brent Burns.
The Senators jumped ahead 2-0 less than four minutes later when Erik Karlsson knotched his seventh goal. Karlsson intercepted a clearing attempt after Ottawa center Jean-Gabriel Pageau shot wide and beat a screen Jones at 7:19.
Logan Couture continued his recent production on the power play as the Sharks center scored his seventh goal in 10 games at 8:19 of the second period to make it 2-1.
Joe Pavelski spotted Couture during a rush and dropped a pass from the right circle to the high slot where his teammate picked the top corner over Ottawa goalie Mike Condon's left glove for his 10th goal of the season.
NOTES: Senators G Mike Condon made his sixth start in place of G Craig Anderson, who returned to Ottawa on Tuesday to be with his wife as she receives cancer treatment. ... Sharks C Logan Couture played four days after having a screw removed from his right ankle. Couture still has five screws from the surgery to repair a broken bone in October 2015. The screw that was removed had been irritating Couture since last month. ... D Dylan DeMelo stepped in to appear for the third time this season as D David Schlemko is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. In addition to Schlemko, San Jose is still without C Tomas Hertl (knee), who is week-to-week. ... Ottawa RW Bobby Ryan returned after missing three games with a hand injury. The Senators continue to play without injured LW Clarke MacArthur (concussion), D Marc Methot (lower body), D Fredrik Claesson (lower body) and RW Curtis Lazar (concussion).