National Hockey League
San Jose 5, Ottawa 0
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 9, 2017
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Tom Chmielewski, Dave Jackson
Linesmen: Pierre Racicot, Mark Wheler
Attendance: 17562

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks do not enjoy a lot of laughers.

So they will savor Saturday night's for a few minutes before turning their attention to hosting the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

Five different skaters scored goals and Aaron Dell registered his second shutout of the season as San Jose beat the Ottawa Senators 5-0 at sold-out SAP Center.

"It's not going to be like this every night. You hope it is, but it's not. It was a nice win,” said Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, one of the hosts' goal-scorers.

Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Melker Karlsson and Tomas Herlt joined Vlasic in the goal-scoring column. Dell turned aside 25 shots for his third career shutout.

The Sharks, who have won consecutive games, handed the Senators their third shutout in four outings.

"He's been great every time he goes in the net," Vlasic said. "We have a lot of confidence in him, and he has confidence when he goes in."

The Sharks had this one from the start. They registered the first nine shots of the game, didn't surrender any rubber on net until past the midway point of the opening period and drew eight penalties.

The struggling Senators slipped to 1-9-2 in their last 12 games.

"We are frustrated," Ottawa defenseman Dion Phaneuf said. "We can't seem to find traction in our game."

While converting two power plays, the Sharks looked dangerous all night during five-on-four and were yet again perfect on the penalty kill. All in all, it was as solid a win as the team has registered this season.

"We were comfortable all night," Couture said.

"We were really firing on all cylinders tonight," Dell added. "We came out early and kept taking it to them all night. Everybody contributed."

Couture scored the only goal of an opening period the Sharks dominated while outshooting the Senators 16-6 in the process.

"Another bad game for us," Ottawa forward Mark Stone said. "That's the bottom line. We've got to find a way to get out of it."

Couture's 15th goal of the season came at 12:55 when he capped a line rush by beating Anderson between the pads with a wrist shot from the left circle. Kevin Labanc fed Couture, who gained a step on Zach Smith, a forward trying to defend on the fly.

Couture added two assists for a three-point night. His last assist represented the 400th point of his career, all spent in San Jose.

"It's nice to hit a milestone like that," Couture said. "I've played with a lot of great players on the power play, which has been real good over the years."

The Sharks opened some breathing room by scoring twice more in the second period. San Jose pressured but didn't convert on an early period power play, but five seconds after the five-on-four advantage expired Vlasic found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Rookie defenseman Tim Heed hit Vlasic with a cross-ice feed, and the veteran defenseman one-timed his third goal of the season past Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson.

Marcus Sorensen was denied on a mini-breakaway, and the teams traded failed power play before the hosts struck again at 14:41. Joe Thornton's line cycled until Pavelski's centering pass from behind the was chipped in by a falling Karlsson for his fifth goal of the season.

Pavelski scored his sixth goal of the season at 3:34 of the third period and Hertl added his sixth -- both on the power play.

"I'm sure they wish they played a better game tonight, they didn't have much tonight," Couture said of the Senators. "The third game on a California trip is never easy for a team from the East. We did a good job jumping on them, getting a lead and not giving them much."

NOTES: San Jose D Paul Martin accepted a conditioning assignment to the Barracuda of the AHL after struggling Thursday during his first game after missing 24 with a lower-body injury. ... Sharks F Barclay Goodrow will miss approximately a week, according to coach Peter DeBoer, after sustaining a lower-body injury on Thursday. ... D Mark Borowiecki (concussion) and D Chris Wideman (groin) remain out for the Senators, whose only healthy scratch was D Fredrik Claesson. ... D Tim Heed drew back into the San Jose lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury. C Ryan Carpenter replaced Goodrow and D Joakim Ryan was the team’s lone healthy scratch. LW Joonas Donskoi and RW Mikkel Boedker remain day to day with lower-body injuries. ... Ottawa caps a season-long, seven-game trip Tuesday in Buffalo.
Top Game Performances
 
Ottawa   San Jose
N/A Points Logan Couture 3
N/A Goals Logan Couture 1
N/A Assists Logan Couture 2
N/A Power Play Goals Joe Pavelski 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Craig Anderson .900 Save Percentage Aaron Dell 1.000
Craig Anderson 45 Saves Aaron Dell 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Ottawa 25 0 0-4 6-8 34 27
San Jose 50 5 2-8 4-4 15 28
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Sharks have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Ottawa will play their next game on the road against Buffalo. The Senators have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .316 after a loss.