San Jose played Thursday as well, so neither team gets extra rest. The Sharks' game went the opposite way from Ottawa's. They trailed Vancouver 2-0 after 2 periods and scored all 3 of their goals in the 3rd. Will Smith scored on the power play, then tied it on a play Macklin Celebrini set up, and Mason Marchment scored the winner 11 seconds later. That win came right after a 0-2 home loss to Buffalo and snapped a 2-game skid.
The head-to-head is the obvious storyline. San Jose went into Ottawa and won 6-2, and that was the first game after Ullmark went down. So the Sharks have already seen this version of the Senators, and they scored at will against it. Ottawa has scored plenty since, including 7 on the Rangers and 5 in LA. A team that can score 4 in a period can stay in any game, and that makes the Senators dangerous to count out even when their own end falls apart.
The Sharks have injury problems of their own. Alexander Wennberg and Igor Chernyshov are both on IR, which strips a center and a wing out of the middle of the lineup. Against Vancouver the depth held up, with Marchment chipping in at both ends of the scoresheet. But this is a team that got shut out by Buffalo 2 games earlier, and Thursday's 3rd period came only after a long stretch of power plays. At 7-6-1 against Ottawa's 8-5-1, these are 2 middle-of-the-pack teams. The Sharks have the healthier goalie situation and the home ice. The Senators have the forwards who can erase a 4-goal deficit.
The questions for Saturday are simple. Does Ottawa's crease give the Senators a chance, or does it hand San Jose a third straight comfortable night? And can the Sharks' top end, with Smith and Celebrini clicking, keep scoring without Wennberg? Expect goals either way. Neither team has done much this month to suggest it can win a low-scoring game.