SAN JOSE -- The Sharks had their biggest challenge of the young season and managed to get by the Senators 3-2.

Although Ottawa was outshot 50-23, the Senators still kept the pressure on the Sharks the entire game.

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead on an initial shot from the point. Tomas Hertl is there near the crease to wrist the rebound past the goalie for the Sharks lead.



Sens answer with a shot from the point, off the boards, rebound goes to the slot where Zack Smith gets it past Antti Niemi.

Patrick Marleau with a backhand near the crease as the puck trickled to him. Logan Couture gets shoved to the ice on the play.



The Sharks have dominated their opponents in getting off to a 5-0-0 start but they may have found their match in the fast skating, highly skilled Ottawa Senators who also have extremely solid goaltending.

For Hockey Night in Canada, it was a great showcase of a top team in the West vs. a top team in the East.

Scoring Details

1st period

SJ – 0:55 – EV – 48 T. Hertl (7) – assists – 22 D. Boyle (1) 22 B. Burns (3)
OTT – 15:21 – EV – 15 Z. Smith (1) – assists – 4. C. Phillips (2) 14 C. Greening (1)
OTT – 18:31 – PP – 6 B. Ryan (2) – assists – 19 J. Spezza (1) 46 P. Wiercioch (3)

2nd period

SJ – 16:12 – PP – 12 P. Marleau (4) – assists – 8 J. Pavelski (6) 52 M. Irwin (3)

3rd period

SJ – 7:08 – EV – 88 B. Burns (3) – assists – 19 J. Thornton (5) 83 M. Nieto (3)

Turning point:

The one timer by Brett Burns who skated in from the side and was waiting for the puck right in front of the crease to give San Jose the lead with his game winning goal.



Team Teal finally capitalized on the power play taking advantage of the tripping minor against Milan Michalek.

One injury note, Hertl left the game after sustaining this hit by Clarke MacArthur. Coach Todd McLellan doesn't anticipate the rookie will miss any playing time but might not skate for a day or two.



Contenders:

Brent Burns: In his new role as a forward he can be a much more aggressive skater not worrying about his responsibilities as a defenseman to make sure the puck doesn't get past him. Now he can dish out as many hits as he wants and led the team with five. He also can fly down the ice and put himself in a good position to score, which he did on his third period goal.

"I don't really know how it happened, Matty made a good play to Jumbo and I don't know what really happened on the play, Jumbo (Joe Thornton) usually finds guys so it was a great pass by Jumbo," Burns said of his goal. "That was in my wheelhouse, empty netters, that was a great play by him I didn't have to do much but I wasn't going to miss."

Sharks coaching staff - With 50 shots taken for the second time this season, someone on the bench deserves credit the team's relentless ability to fire pucks at the opposing net

Robin Lehner - The Senators backup goalie stopped 47 of 50 shots in his season debut keeping his team in the game stopping nearly everything in front of the net.

No pretenders on this list, the Senators played a good game but the timing of Jason Spezza's roughing penalty gave the Sharks the opportunity to score the game winning goal, just one second after the power play ended.

Keep your head up,
Ryan Leong

Tweets by @RyanLeong

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