Sharks 3, Senators 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Brent Burns scored the tiebreaking goal at 7:08 of the third period as the San Jose Sharks beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Saturday night.
San Jose joins the Colorado Avalanche as the only two teams to start the season with five consecutive wins.
Burns scored in close on a pass from linemate Joe Thornton.
The Sharks tied the score late in the second period on their first power play of the game. They also saw rookie sensation Tomas Hertl leave the ice and not return to the game after getting struck in the head by Ottawa's Clarke MacArthur.
San Jose's Patrick Marleau extended a points streak to five straight games to start the season when he backhanded a long rebound past Senators goalie Robin Lehner at 16:12, 62 seconds after former Sharks player Milan Michalek tripped Logan Couture.
Less than a minute later, Hertl was locked in a battle with two Senators for the puck when he got caught with his head down as MacArthur stepped into him. Hertl dropped both gloves and his stick on the ice and headed straight off and into the Sharks' locker room after removing his helmet as he exited the playing surface.
The Sharks dominated early, scoring an early goal and registering nine of the first 11 shots of the game, but the Senators tilted the ice in the second half of the first period and scored twice to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Hertl scored his league-leading seventh goal 55 seconds after the opening faceoff. He poked a rebound past Lehner, who was getting his first start of the season, to cap a five-shot San Jose outburst at the outset.
Ottawa tied the score at 15:21 when Zack Smith crashed the slot to score his first goal of the season after Sharks defenseman Matt Irwin tossed the puck from the crease into prime scoring territory.
Sharks forward Eric Desjardins was sent off at 17:58 for a high stick at the Ottawa blue line and the Senators struck 33 seconds later for the go-ahead goal. Jason Spezza returned from missing a game because of a groin injury to make a perfect cross-ice feed through San Jose's penalty-killing box to Bobby Ryan, who beat Sharks goalie Antti Niemi high from the right circle.
NOTES: Lehner made his season debut as Ottawa opted to start its backup and save G Craig Anderson for Sunday's game in Anaheim. Anderson is 3-6 against San Jose, but that was while playing with Colorado. ... Sharks D Brad Stuart served the second of a three-game suspension. He will be eligible to return on Thursday when San Jose visits Dallas. The Sharks begin a stretch in St. Louis on Tuesday of playing six of seven games on the road. ... The Senators' season-opening six-game trip ends Tuesday in Phoenix. ... Asked his reaction to comments from Capitals coach Adam Oates talking about Hertl's fourth goal against the New York Rangers, general manager Doug Wilson told CSNBayArea.com, "I think he should worry about coaching his team and not worry about being a caretaker of the game. I would not allow our coaches to make comments about other team's players." ... Ottawa was without D Joe Corvo, who was struck in the area of his left eye during the morning skate. LW Matt Kassian also did not dress for Ottawa. ... San Jose's three scratches -- RW Adam Burish, RW Martin Havlat and RW Raffi Torres -- are injured.
