Tarasenko scores with 5 seconds remaining in the third to give Senators a 5-4 victory over Sharks
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko scored with five seconds remaining in the third period to give the Ottawa Senators a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Ottawa snapped a five-game losing streak with its first victory in 2024.
Claude Giroux, Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson also scored for Ottawa, while Joonas Korpisalo turned away 14 shots.
Anthony Duclair, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Kevin Labanc and Filip Zadina scored for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 36 shots.
Zadina tied the game with three minutes remaining in regulation on one of only five shots the Sharks had in the third.
With time winding down, Tarasenko shoved Justin Bailey, who bumped into Blackwood, allowing Tarasenko to pick up Artem Zub’s rebound and find the back of the net.
“I’m not going to lie; winning is nice,” Tarasenko said. “First of all, we shouldn’t have allowed the (tying) goal. We should make sure the puck is out and it doesn’t get to this nervous situation where you’re scoring at the end. It’s very nice to win a game.”
The goal was reviewed for goaltender interference, but the call on the ice stood.
“We were fighting all night to battle back and getting that last one late to tie the game, obviously we wanted to get it to overtime to at least get a point,” Bailey said.
“For me, we kind of got caught out there and I took like a half-second to look for where my guy was and at that point I got hit into our goalie and the puck squirted right out to him. So, obviously, it’s a tough way to lose.”
Trailing 2-1, the Sharks tied things early in the second. San Jose broke in on a 2-on-1 and Vlasic, who was the trailer, beat Korpisalo for his first of the season. The Sharks took the lead less than three minutes later after Korpisalo got tangled with Travis Hamonic and couldn’t get back into position, leaving Labanc an open net.
Ottawa tied the game when Batherson made a nice pass to Tkachuk and snapped a shot past Blackwood. Batherson gave Ottawa a 4-3 lead when he picked up a rebound and found the top corner for his 15th of the season.
“To finally get a win feels good," Batherson said. "A little nerve-racking there when they had to go upstairs for the last goal, but we’ll take any win we can get at this point.”
The Senators led 2-1 after the opening minutes.
Giroux opened the scoring at the four-minute mark off an Artem Zub rebound and Chabot scored his first of the season with a shot from the faceoff circle.
Duclair cut the lead in half with a shot from the slot midway through the period. Blackwood then kept the Sharks in it, specifically in the second when the Senators outshot the visitors 22-4.
“He’s been outstanding,” said Sharks coach David Quinn. “He’s been outstanding all year and, you know, I’m just really, really disappointed because we did a lot of good things in Montreal and didn’t follow it up tonight.”
UP NEXT
Sharks: At Buffalo on Monday.
Senators: Host Colorado on Tuesday.
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