Sharks Survive Ottawa Onslaught, Win 6-2 Behind Askarov's 41 Saves

Grab a sourdough roll and sit down, because this one wasn't pretty on the shot chart but it sure was pretty on the scoreboard. The Sharks beat the Senators 6-2 on the road Thursday night, and the thing that decided it wasn't the shots — Ottawa fired 43 of them, San Jose only mustered 28 — it was Yaroslav Askarov standing on his head in the blue paint. The kid stopped 41 of 43 for a .953 save percentage, and when your goalie is bailing you out like that while your team is getting outshot by 15, you buy him a steak dinner (or whatever the hockey equivalent is up in Canada — poutine, I guess).

Ottawa drew first blood when Tim Stützle buried a wrist shot on a delayed penalty just past the six-minute mark of the first, and for a second I was already grumbling into my coffee about another slow start. But Nolan Allan answered less than five minutes later, snapping one past Samuel Ersson to tie it 1-1, and that's when the Sharks found their legs.

The second period is where this game got decided, folks. THREE GOALS in a span of about four minutes:

1. Tyler Toffoli on the power play at 9:13, making it 2-1.
2. Collin Graf at 12:00 — on the back end of a shorthanded rush, mind you — pushing it to 3-1.
3. Jacob Trouba, fed right in front by Graf, roofing one at 13:18 for a 4-1 cushion.

That's the kind of middle frame that makes an old man forget about the fog rolling in and just enjoy his hockey. Trouba finished with a goal and an assist and was rightfully the Sharks' leading scorer on the night, and he picked up the game's third star for his trouble.

Ottawa didn't go away quietly — give them that. Jordan Spence cut it to 4-2 early in the third, and for a minute there I had my hand on the remote ready to change the channel out of superstition. But Zack Ostapchuk and Ivar Stenberg closed the door late, with Stenberg's goal at 19:43 — assisted by Kiefer Sherwood, who led all Sharks skaters with two helpers — putting the final 6-2 bow on it.

A few other things I noticed digging through the box score:

• San Jose out-hit Ottawa 27-20 and out-blocked them 17-9. Physical game, even with the Senators holding the territorial edge.
• The power play went 1-for-2 for San Jose, and the penalty kill chipped in on offense too — the team sheet shows two shorthanded goals, which is just greedy.
• Ersson finished at .846 for Ottawa, a rough night behind a team that had every other stat in its favor except the one that matters.

The Sharks improve to 6-4-1 and lead the season series against Ottawa 1-0. Fabian Zetterlund picked up an assist and grabbed the second star for Ottawa.

Next up: San Jose heads to Boston for a Saturday night date with the Bruins. Pack an extra layer for that one too, boys — New England fog's got nothing on ours, but it's still October hockey weather out there.