SAN JOSE – It may not have been the Sharks' most exciting game. Nor was it their prettiest, for that matter.
But San Jose held on to get the job done against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, skating away with a 4-1 victory and extending their season-long winning streak to six games.
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Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Martin Jones picked up right where he left off
The Sharks’ starting netminder picked up right where he left off the other night in Las Vegas. The Senators had a couple of good looks with skaters at the doorstep, but Jones expertly stood on his head to keep Ottawa from finding the back of the net through the first 40 minutes of play.
Jones also stood his ground when the Sens had a couple breakaway opportunities – something the Sharks struggled with stopping earlier in the season. His biggest highlight of the first period was when he stopped Mark Stone on a breakaway that could’ve easily put Ottawa on the board first.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks narrowly escaped ‘the trap’
There was talk ahead of Saturday’s contest it could be a trap game for San Jose after their emotional, high-octane win over the Golden Knights on Thursday. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said at Saturday morning’s practice he was hoping the victory over Vegas would motivate the team.
While San Jose didn’t look particularly peppy in the first period, they helped to back Jones up enough to keep the Senators from getting on the board through the majority of the game. You have to give Ottawa some credit, though. They had a couple good chances before they got on the board in the third frame.
San Jose did get a little jump-start towards the end of the second stanza when captain Joe Pavelski opened up scoring.
The PK got the job done
The special-teams battle between San Jose and Ottawa was incredibly lopsided. In fact, the Sharks didn’t get a power play on the evening until the third period was more than half-way over – and it wasn’t one of their better-looking attempts on the man advantage, either.
Lucky enough for the Sharks, their penalty kill was its dominant self and kept the Senators from making the game interesting. Another tip of the hat to Jones, who froze former teammate Mikkel Boedker on a power-play chance in the third period that might’ve tied the game up 2-2.