Sharks vs Senators: Prediction, Team News and Canadian Odds

Result: Ottawa Senators 5-1 San Jose Sharks

Samuel Ersson stopped 22 of 23 and Ottawa scored three times in the second period to split the season series. Dylan Cozens opened at 13:25 of the first, from Tim Stützle and Artem Zub. Michael Misa tied it at 16:06. Then the second: Drake Batherson at 5:04, Stützle at 10:54 and Ridly Greig shorthanded at 12:17, from Shane Pinto. Pinto finished it at 17:30 of the third. Ottawa outshot San Jose 35-23. Ersson started ahead of Johansson. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 30 of 34 and came off with under three minutes left. Macklin Celebrini had two shots and no point. Jake Sanderson had two assists and finished plus four. Ottawa is 9-5-1. San Jose is 7-7-1.

Wrong side, wrong total. We said San Jose 4-3 and the over. The line was 6.5 at every Ontario book, at Play Alberta, Bet99, TonyBet and Mise-o-jeu, and six goals fell half a goal short. The pick was built on one number: Ersson at 0-3-0 and .835 standing in for Ullmark. Ersson stopped 22 of 23. The goaltender we said the game turned on had his best night of the season. That is the lesson these pages keep relearning: a save percentage after three starts is not a forecast. We wrote that the standings did not support the pick, Ottawa being ten places higher with the better goal difference. The standings were right. The over leaned on a series averaging 7.8 goals; this one produced six, five of them Ottawa’s. Of our three players to watch, Celebrini had no point, Ersson won the game for the other side and Nedeljkovic was pulled.

The preview as published before the game follows.

San Jose won the first meeting 6-2, in Ottawa, nine days ago. Ottawa is still without Linus Ullmark, and the goaltender standing in for him has gone 0-3-0. This is the second of two. The call, the team news and the Canadian odds follow.

How to watch

Check your provider before puck drop: coverage varies by region and some parts of Canada are blacked out. We keep the full breakdown on our how to watch the NHL in Canada page.

Sharks vs Senators odds

Moneyline prices from 7 Canadian sportsbooks, captured on 31 October. American odds throughout.

These are stored prices rather than live ones, and a hockey line moves the moment a starting goaltender is confirmed, so check before you bet. Our NHL betting sites page sets out which operates where, and who is expected in net is on our projected NHL starting goalies page.

Ottawa is tenth and the crease has not recovered from losing Ullmark

The Senators are 8-5-1 on seventeen points with a goal difference of exactly zero. They lost 6-5 past regulation at Los Angeles on Thursday.

Linus Ullmark is 7-1-0 with a .945 and has not played since 22 October. He is on injured reserve until around 7 November. Samuel Ersson has gone 0-3-0 at .835 in his place and Jonas Johansson is 1-1-0.

Warren Foegele is on injured reserve with a knee injury, now dated to around 14 November, and William Eklund is out until January. Andre Burakovsky carries a return date of today.

How they compare

Ottawa finished thirteen points clear of San Jose last season and conceded more than half a goal a game less. The penalty kills were close, within a point of each other, and neither was good: 75.7 per cent against 76.4.

San Jose has won three of five and already beaten Ottawa this month

The Sharks are 7-6-1 on fifteen points and twenty-first. They beat Vancouver 3-2 on Thursday and have won three of their last five.

They went to Ottawa on 22 October and won 6-2. That was with Ullmark already out, so the circumstances have not changed much, and this one is at the SAP Center rather than the Canadian Tire Centre.

The crease is shared. Alex Nedeljkovic is 3-1-1 at .903 across five starts and Yaroslav Askarov 3-5-0 at .898 across eight. Four players are out, none of them recent.

This series averages 7.8 goals, the highest on the card

San Jose leads the all-time series 26 wins to 24 across fifty meetings, though Ottawa has taken four of the last five on the scoreboard.

Those five produced 8, 11, 5, 8 and 7 goals, an average of 7.8. That is the highest head-to-head average of any game this weekend. Four of the five cleared six and a half, and the two creases in this game sit at .835 and .903.

Team news

Who starts in goal is an open question. Ottawa has split between Ersson (3 starts, .835) and Johansson (2, .893), and San Jose has split between Nedeljkovic (5 starts, .903) and Askarov (8, .898). Neither number is a promise about tonight, and the line moves the moment a club confirms its starter.

The full league picture is on our NHL injury report.

Players to watch

Macklin Celebrini, San Jose. Fifteen points in eleven games and twenty-second in the NHL scoring race.

Samuel Ersson, Ottawa. 0-3-0 at .835 standing in for Ullmark, and the number this game turns on.

Alex Nedeljkovic, San Jose. A .903 and the better of the two Sharks goaltenders.

Score prediction

San Jose Sharks 4-3 Ottawa Senators. San Jose won the first meeting 6-2 and Ottawa is still missing the goaltender who won them seven of eight.

Sharks vs Senators prediction

San Jose is the side we would take, which the table does not support. Ottawa is ten places higher and has the better goal difference.

The reason is the crease. Ullmark is 7-1-0 with a .945 and he is not playing; Ersson is 0-3-0 at .835 and he is. San Jose beat this same Ottawa side 6-2 nine days ago under the same conditions, and this one is at home. Our lean: San Jose, and the over. The series averages 7.8 goals and neither goaltender here is above .903.

We rank all 32 each week in the NHL power rankings; the NHL schedule has the rest of Saturday’s games.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Picks are opinion, not advice, and odds change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.