The San Jose Sharks (16-15-1) surrendered a trio of third-period goals in a 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators (17-11-5) at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday.

The set back was San Jose's the first loss of the current road trip snapping what had been a feel-good two game win streak.

The Sharks grabbed the lead on Joe Thornton's fifth of the season . The Sens answered just over four minutes later and the fight was on.

The Senators third period onslaught was fueled by goals from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Chris Wideman and Erik Karlsson. It turned what had been tight game into a disappointing loss.

It was just the second loss in 15 games for the Sharks when scoring he games first goal; they entered the game with the second-best winning percentage in the NHL when scoring first (.929).

I'm not sure in the Sharks just ran out of gas or what, but fatigue had to be a factor in the late game nose dive. It was the second game of a back-to-back and San Jose's third overall in four nights. They had a total of 77 shots on net in the last two games. So, yes, they might have been a bit tired.

Or it could have just been a case of beating fire with fire? Ottawa has been very good at home of late, winning four in a row, 8 of 11 (8-1-2) and 9-4-4 overall.

It was only the Sharks sixth in regulation on the road this season and ended a mini two-game win streak that had the previous six games (0-5-1) all but forgotten.

This can still be a great road trip if the Sharks can take care of the final to games. They finish the trip at the Blackhawks today and the hated ones on Tuesday.

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The Sharks can still head into the holidays on a high note by winning the next two games.

Up Next....Chicago.

The Blackhawks are still one the Elite teams in the Western Conference and they sport the games best players, in Patrick Kane. Chicago enters the game winners of four of their last five and two-in-a-row.

Kane had his 25-game pointing scoring streak snapped last week, but is already working on a new one with points in his last two(1g 1a). The Blackhawks star leads the NHL in points (48) and assists (28) and is third in goals (20).

What to watch for...

- Martin Jones will be back in net for the Sharks. Jones won his last two starts after going 1-5-1 in his previous seven.

- Brent Burns is trying to do it all for the Sharks. He is kind of like one of those guys standing on the corner playing 30 instruments at the same time. Yeah, kinda like that. The beard is a minutes eater on the blue line and his offensive isn't too shabby either. He is second on the team in points (28), third in goals (12) and he's a plus-2 in the last four games (baby steps).

- The Sharks are fortunate to play in such a bad division. The Kings were embarrassed 5-0 by the Leafs on Saturday and remain nine points up on SJ. If the Sharks can win today and Tuesday (vs. LA), they can shrink LA's lead to a mere five points.

- Chicago won the first meeting back in November by a score of 5-2. The Hawks lead the all-time series 45-32-5-7.

Enjoy the game and thanks for reading!
Steve

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