Sharks Hold On To Beat Ottawa

Ron Stern scored twice in a three-goal first period and the San Jose Sharks held on to beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Saturday night.

The Sharks built a 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes on the goals by Stern and another by Andrei Zyuzin, which was just enough to hold off a late rally by the Senators.

San Jose goaltender Steve Shields stopped 34 shots for his third straight victory as the Sharks snapped the Senators' five-game winning streak.

The early Sharks splurge knocked starting Ottawa goaltender Damian Rhodes out of the game.

The Sharks who have won three consecutive games and five of their last six scored 1:23 into the game when Stern took a pass from Mike Ricci and scored from the left corner of the net. The Sharks increased their lead at 5:11 when Zyuzin scored from the right circle after receiving a pass from across the ice from Owen Nolan.

Stern then raced from behind center ice, picked up a loose puck cleared by Marcus Ragnarsson and scored from 12 feet out at 6:58.

Ron Tugnutt, who had missed the last two games because of a right-knee injury suffered March 6, then replaced Rhodes. Rhodes had won the last two games including a shutout in his last outing against the New York Rangers.

After Tugnutt's entry, Ottawa tightened up the game. Alexei Yashin scored on a rebound shot from 15 feet out at 9:27 of the first period, and Vaclav Prospal scored from short range at 12:26 of the second after Andreas Dackell passed to him from behind the net. Yashin's goal was his 38th of the season.

The Senators, who are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games, outshot San Jose 15-4 in the second period after a first period in which the Sharks took 11 shots to Ottawa's 10. Ottawa outshot San Jose 36-20 overall.

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