Dylan Cozens gave the Ottawa Senators a jolt with two goals, but it still ended in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings. That leaves Ottawa heading into Saturday’s visit to the San Jose Sharks with a record of 8-5-1 and a need to turn a strong individual night into points.
The matchup in San Jose, California at 4 p.m. EDT is the second meeting between the teams this season, and the Sharks won the first one 6-2. Ottawa is 3-3-0 on the road, while San Jose is 7-6-1 overall despite a 2-3-0 home mark that makes its numbers at home harder to read than the record alone suggests.
That is what makes the search for Senators vs Sharks relevant now: both clubs are winning more than they are losing, but neither has separated itself. The Senators have gone 5-4-1 over their last 10 games, and San Jose has gone 4-5-1 over the same stretch. Ottawa has also been living on the edge of discipline, averaging 13.1 penalty minutes per game to rank second in the NHL in that category.
The individual form on both sides gives the game some weight. Will Smith leads the Sharks with six goals and four assists, while Macklin Celebrini has five goals and six assists over his last 10 games. For Ottawa, Shane Pinto has four goals and five assists, and Drake Batherson has six goals and seven assists over his last 10 games. That mix of production is part of why the rematch carries more than routine regular-season interest.
There is also a wrinkle in the availability list. Igor Chernyshov, Alexander Wennberg, Kyle Keyser and Quentin Musty are out with upper-body injuries, Warren Foegele is day to day with a knee injury, Linus Ullmark is out with a lower-body injury, William Eklund is out with an ankle injury, Andre Burakovsky is day to day with a lower-body injury, and Thomas Chabot is day to day with an upper-body injury. With those absences in the picture, Saturday’s game becomes less about matching the first result and more about which team can handle the moment cleaner the second time around.
For Ottawa, the question is simple enough: can Cozens’ surge help carry a road result that the Senators could use to steady their start? For San Jose, the challenge is to prove the home record matters less than the standings say and to show the first 6-2 win over Ottawa was not a one-off.
