Ottawa Senators can't deliver encore performance in loss to San Jose Sharks

What would the Ottawa Senators do for an encore?

After putting former captain Brady Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers in their place only 24 hours earlier in an emotional 5-1 win, the Senators put their work boots back on Thursday night to face Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks.

Ottawa generated the chances, had the Sharks on their heels and pushed the pace. They did everything but find the finish they needed against San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov, but the result was a 6-2 loss in front of 15,469.

The Senators can’t be unhappy with the effort. Only Tim Stutzle and Jordan Spence were able to beat Askarov on the 41 shots, especially in the final 30 minutes when Ottawa had San Jose on its heels.

Zack Ostpachuk and Ivan Stenberg put it away into an empty net.

Spence closed the gap to two goals with his first of the year at 6:24 of the third with the Senators pressing to get back into this one.

The victory over the Panthers was the Ottawa’s seventh win in October, and it’s only the seventh time in franchise history that’s happened. This was the Sharks’ first win in regulation this season.

The Senators learned on Thursday that they’ll be without top goaltender Linus Ullmark for at least a week. He suffered a lower-body strain in the victory over the Panthers.

The ball has been placed in backup Samuel Ersson’s court.

It’s incumbent on Ersson to get the job done.

People will point the finger at Ersson, but it wasn’t his fault. There were defensive mistakes that resulted in goals, and at least one deflection he could do nothing about. But this was his third straight loss and he needs to get a win for confidence.

Ersson should have come into this game with a level of confidence. He had posted a 4-1-0 lifetime record against the Sharks with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.

The building was quiet after 40 minutes with the Senators trailing 4-1, after outshooting the Sharks 18-11. Askarov robbed Drake Batherson with a glove save that will be on every highlight reel.

The Sharks scored twice in a span of 1:18 to take command. The Ottawa power play has struggled early this season, and it didn’t get much better when San Jose’s Collin Graff scored a shorthanded goal 12 minutes into the second.

Moments after the power play ended, Jacob Trouba extended the lead.

The Sharks pulled out to a 2-1 advantage at 9:13 of the second on the power play. Tyler Toffoli fired a shot from the top of the circle that appeared to deflect off defenceman Artem Zub and past Ersson.

Green opted not to make any changes. There was no need. The lineup was solid from top to bottom against the Panthers. The Senators had to find a way to remain just as engaged and physical.

That kind of intensity was going to be difficult to match. You’re not going to witness many moments like the ones we saw against the Panthers. The best bet for the Senators was to take a businesslike approach.

The Sharks were sitting and waiting for the Senators, so energy was going to be an issue.

A difficult start

The Senators were outshot 11-8 in the first, but were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes. The club wasn’t nearly physical enough and had to do a better job getting to the front of the San Jose net.

Nolan Allen tied it up 1-1 on the eighth shot Ersson faced. He was alone in front and went top shelf on the glove side at 11:04.

With 11:24 left in the first, the Senators thought they’d taken a 2-0 lead, but only briefly. Carter Yakemchuk fired a seeing-eye shot that looked like it beat Askarov.

The goal light went on, and the Senators celebrated, but after a review, the puck hadn’t crossed the line.

Stutzle opened the scoring with an extra attacker on the ice on a delayed penalty. Batherson threaded a perfect pass to Stutzle in the left circle, and he fired it home at 6:16 of the first. It was the second straight game that he’s gotten Ottawa on the board.

“It was pretty solid. Probably not as sharp as we wanted it to be,” Batherson told TSN’s Claire Hanna after the first. “It’s tough coming in after a game like that.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com