*Photo from Yahoo Sports*
There is a little joy in San Jose. Thomas Bordeleau scored a pair of goals, Magnus Chrona stepped up in goal, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 2-1 victory on Saturday night in San Jose.
While things are overall pretty tough in San Jose, Chrona got a nice moment for the franchise. He picked up his first NHL win even as the Sharks are mired in a season long slump, going 1-7-2 in their last 10 and are dead last in the Pacific Division with a 16-40-7 record. It was the first win for the Sharks since February 15 when they beat the Calgary Flames.
Starting the scoring in the game was Bordeleau. He provided the only goal of the first period, scoring his 3rd goal of the season 6:24 into the game, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead with his power play goal, assisted by Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund.
Ottawa provided an answer in the second period. On the power play 9:18 into the period, Tim Stutzle scored his 15th goal of the season with help from Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson to make it 1-1. Bordeleau put San Jose ahead for good with his second power play goal of the game, making it 2-1 with Granlund and William Eklund getting assists.
Between the pipes was the rookie Chrona for the Sharks, who had a big game to improve his record to 1-2-1 in 4 starts this season. Chrona stopped all but one of the 32 shots he was tested with by the Senators, giving him a .969 save percentage.
Chrona said of how he was feeling about his first win "Just joy, something I dreamt of my entire life. It was close in Dallas, and kind of came into the same situation this time with a 2-1 lead coming into the third. I think the guys played great in front of me."
Getting the start for the Senators opposite Chrona was Joonas Korpisalo, who was tagged with the loss to drop to 13-20-4 in 36 starts. Korpisalo made 19 saves on the 21 shots the Sharks sent his way, good for a .905 save percentage but not good enough for the win.
Ottawa interim head coach Jacques Martin said that "I wasn't happy with the first period, but I thought after the first period we came out and competed. Bottom line, the difference was special teams. They got two power-play goals, we got one power-play goal."
Both teams resume their schedules on Tuesday night. The Sharks hit the road to take on the Philadelphia Flyers, with Devin Cooley listed as the projected starter. Anton Forsberg is likely to start for the Senators as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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