Senators defeat Sharks in Karlsson’s return to Ottawa
OTTAWA, ONTARIO >> On the occasion of Erik Karlsson’s return to Ottawa, it was a former Shark who shined brighter.
Mikkel Boedker had a goal and three assists, Craig Anderson stopped 36 shots and the Senators beat their former captain and San Jose 6-2 Saturday, sending the Sharks to their fourth straight loss.
The Senators have three former Sharks on their roster with Boedker, Chris Tierney and Dylan DeMelo.
“It was a lot of fun out there,” Boedker said. “We played really hard as a unit I think. There was three of us in here playing against our old squad and everybody seems to rally behind that so it was a good feeling in the room before and definitely on the ice I thought we played really well.”
Ben Harpur scored his first NHL goal, and Ryan Dzingel, Mark Stone, Magnus Paajarvi and Bobby Ryan also scored as the Senators won their third straight.
Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Sharks. Martin Jones made 21 saves. San Jose is 0-3-1 on its five-game trip, which ends Sunday in Montreal.
Karlsson was playing his first game in Ottawa since he was traded to San Jose in the offseason.
“I had a lot of fun out there even though this was not a great game at all and I’m not happy by any means,” Karlsson said. “But it’s going to be nice to move on now here.”
The team honored the two-time Norris Trophy winner with a video tribute during the first period.
“There’s a lot of good memories that I have from this rink,” Karlsson said. “I was drafted here, spent pretty much my entire career here so a lot of positive things, so it was fun to see and I was happy I was able to play in front of these guys again and these fans and everything. They did a good job and I thank them for that. It was very kind of them.”
While the Senators downplayed the reunion, they admitted it was strange to see Karlsson on the other side.
“It was different,” Stone said. “What are we, 27 games in? I think it would have been a little different had we played him right away, but we’re pretty used to not having him around so it wasn’t that different.” ISLANDERS 3, BLUE JACKETS
2>> Casey Cizikas scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and New York Islanders won in its return to the Nassau Coliseum, rallying to beat Columbus.
Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier scored in the second period to tie the score after the Islanders fell behind, and Thomas Greiss stopped
28 shots. Scott Mayfield and Jordan Eberle each had two assists to help New York improve to 10-2-0 against Metropolitan Division opponents this season.
STARS 2, CANUCKS 1>> Alex Radulov scored with 3:23 left to lift Dallas past Vancouver.
Jamie Benn had a thirdperiod goal, and Ben Bishop made 24 saves in his return from a lower-body injury. Dallas is 3-1-1 in its last five games.
Nylander signs 6-year extension with Leafs
TORONTO >> William Nylander’s contract impasse with the Toronto Maple Leafs has ended.
The restricted free agent signed a six-year deal Saturday, just before the 5 p.m. deadline. The deal is worth
$10.2 million this season and
$6.9 million a year the rest of the seasons.
Nylander, the Calgaryborn Swede selected eighth overall in 2014, had to sign by the deadline to be eligible to play in the NHL this season.
He and the club had been at odds on the terms of a new agreement after his entrylevel contract expired July 1.