Reeling Sharks lose at home again, 4-2 to Ottowa

SAN JOSE - Mike Hoffman scored a power-play goal to break a tie midway through the third period, and the Ottawa Senators rallied from a pair of deficits to post their fifth consecutive win, 4-2 over the reeling San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Hoffman added an empty-net goal, and Erik Karlsson and Mark Stone also scored for the Senators, who completed a California sweep.

Andrew Hammond followed up shutouts in Anaheim and Los Angeles by stopping 28 of 30 shots to win his fifth consecutive start to open his career.

Tommy Wingels and Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks, who have dropped eight home games in a row for the first time since the 1994-95 season to put their streak of 10 consecutive playoff appearances in doubt. Antti Niemi made 27 saves.

The Sharks’ last two losses came in games they led after two periods, also blowing a 2-1 lead Thursday night in a 3-2 loss to Detroit.

Trailing 2-1, the Senators took over the game with a pair of goals in a span of 4:07 early in the third period. Stone got the equalizer when he beat Scott Hannan to a rebound of a shot by Kyle Turris less than 4 minutes into the period.

Then with Brenden Dillon in the box for tripping, Hoffman put Ottawa on top for the first time when he knocked in a rebound of Mike Zibanejad’s shot off the end boards.

The Sharks barely threatened the rest of the way, and Hoffman iced it with his empty-netter with 1:10 to play.

Hammond’s bid for the California shutout sweep ended early against the Sharks. Coach Todd McLellan juggled his lines in an effort to spark his team and it paid off when the reconfigured third line got on the board just 2:27 in.

Matt Irwin put a shot on goal, and Wingels knocked in the rebound during a scramble in front of the net for his 13th goal. Hammond was less than 10 minutes from breaking Patrick Lalime’s club scoreless streak of 184:06.