Pair of mistakes doom Sharks in 3-2 loss to Senators

Curtis Pashelka, Bay Area News Group on Nov 22, 2025

Published in Hockey

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Sharks were their own worst enemy at times during their game against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Questionable Sharks line changes led to both the game-tying and go-ahead goals by the Senators, who earned a come-from-behind 3-2 win before a sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.

With the game tied 2-2, the Sharks allowed a 2-on-0 to the Senators’ Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson, as the puck got behind defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin. The play resulted in the puck lying next to the goal line, and Sharks defenseman John Klingberg, with his stick caught in goalie Alex Nedeljkovic’s equipment, was unable to clear before Tim Stützle poked the puck across the line with 6:38 left in the third period.

Both Klingberg and Barclay Goodrow scored, and Nedeljkovic finished with 24 saves for the Sharks, who were looking for their third straight victory on this homestand after beating the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday and earning a shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

The Sharks finish the homestand on Sunday against the Boston Bruins and will be looking to establish a better forecheck than the one they couldn’t get to against the Senators.

“We couldn’t win a puck at all defensively,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Offensively, when you don’t win pucks, you basically just skate and chase it. That’s what we did.”

The Sharks also had a tough time in the faceoff circle, winning just 21 of 54 draws. Senators center Claude Giroux won 17 of 21 faceoffs.

Nedeljkovic had to be sharp in the second period as he stopped 14 of 15 shots. The one that got by him came off the stick of former Sharks winger Fabian Zetterlund, who took a long pass from defenseman Tyler Kleven, skated into San Jose’s end and fired a shot over the shoulder of goalie Nedeljkovic at the 18:38 mark for just his second goal of the season.

The Sharks made a bad change on the play, and Timothy Liljegren was caught up ice, resulting in a Senators 3-on-1.

“You can’t change,” Warsofsky said. “Two goals where we shouldn’t have changed.”

The two teams traded power-play goals in the first period.

With Philipp Kurashev in the box for roughing defenseman Jake Sanderson, the Senators took a 1-0 lead at the 7:50 mark as Cozens, from the bumper spot, redirected a pass from Stutzle past goalie Nedeljkovic.

With Hayden Hodgson called for charging Mario Ferraro, Klingberg took a pass from Macklin Celebrini, took a stride forward and beat Senators goalie Linus Ullmark with a wrist shot from between the circles for his third goal of the season, all on the power play.