Music: {allcanada} SENATORS (26-23-10) at SHARKS (30-24-8)

Friday, February 27, 2015

{allcanada} SENATORS (26-23-10) at SHARKS (30-24-8)

ESPN Fantasy Baseball / Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

Saturday, February 28, 2015

10:00 PM ET

SENATORS (26-23-10) at SHARKS (30-24-8)

TV: SN, TVA Sports 2, CSN-CA

Season series: The San Jose Sharks swept two games from the Ottawa Senators last season; each was played in October 2013. Forward Tomas Hertl had two goals for the Sharks, who outscored the Senators by a combined 8-4.

Senators team scope: Rookie goalie Andrew Hammond will likely start again after earning his second shutout in as many nights in a 1-0 victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Ottawa has won four in a row, the first four starts of Hammond's NHL career, and is seven points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Hammond, 27, has made 126 saves on 131 shots (.962 save percentage) and has a 1.15 goals-against average. The Senators, who are 10-for-10 on the penalty kill during their win streak, are 15-12-5 under coach Dave Cameron since he took over after Paul MacLean was fired Dec. 8. They began February with three straight losses but have gone 6-1-1 since a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 7. Bobby Ryan has eight points (seven assists) in his past seven games, including an assist in a 3-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Defenseman Erik Karlsson has been held without a point the past two games following a six-game point streak (two goals, eight assists).

Sharks team scope: San Jose has lost four of its past five games and is 0-5-2 at home in February after blowing a third-period lead in a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. The loss still was bothering coach Todd McLellan on Friday. "I want it to stink," he said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. "That group was a lot more competitive than we were. And you can rebuild, you can do whatever the hell you want, but part of all that is being competitive and having high expectations ... and living up to it day after day." The Sharks are three points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They are sixth in the NHL on the power play (20.6 percent); 22.8 percent (39 of 171) of their goals have come with the man-advantage. The NHL Department of Player Safety fined center Logan Couture $5,000 for slew-footing Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith.

Team Stats