The last time the Sharks played the Senators at Canadian Tire Center, they had arguably one of their worst outings of the 2018-19 season. On Sunday, almost one year later, they didn’t fare much better.
Team Teal’s woes on even-strength played a big role in their discombobulated effort as they fell 5-2 to the league-worst Sens.
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Here are three takeaways from Sunday's game in Ottawa:
Too much time in the bin
One of the biggest criticisms of the Sharks' game in Toronto on Friday night was that they took too many penalties. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer talked about not "beating ourselves" on a tough roadie, and part of that is taking too many penalties. San Jose then went into Ottawa and was on the back-end of two 5-on-3's before the first two periods expired.
As DeBoer and multiple players have stated, spending too much time on the kill really saps the energy out of the entire team. Even though San Jose's PK has been dominant, the Sharks clearly aren't doing themselves any favors by making regular trips to the sin bin.
San Jose Sharks
New lines, same ol' lack of flow
DeBoer rolled out retooled line combinations against the Sens in an effort to get the 5-on-5 play going. Through one game, San Jose's even-strength game didn't look much better. The Sharks should've gained momentum after Kevin Labanc scored their second goal of the evening and made the score 3-2. Instead, they continued having trouble putting any pressure on the opponent and it was Ottawa who scored the next goal before the second intermission.
Whatever combos San Jose decides on, the offense has to battle harder if they're going to turn their fortunes around. Once the Senators scored the first goal, the Sharks had trouble establishing any kind of a forecheck. If San Jose can't get their offense going against a sub-par team like Ottawa, they're not going to have better luck against the best teams in the league.
Not Dell's best
You can't put all of that loss on Aaron Dell. The team in front of him wasn't very good -- especially when you consider how dominant they were in front of him during his last start against the Habs earlier in the week. However, he still didn't have his best showing against a Senators lineup that is the worst in their division.
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So far through this rough early stretch of the season, goaltending hasn't been something the Sharks have had to worry about. But Dell will have to rebound from Sunday's game. Yes, DeBoer wants to be able to play Dell more this season. But judging by the fact that the coach put Martin Jones in net for the third period, No. 30's leash must not be very long. He'll have to be better.