The San Jose Sharks get ready for the second game of back-to-backs today. The good news for the Sharks is that the Ottawa Senators are also playing the second game of a back-to-back, albeit with a bit more rest. The Senators played yesterday afternoon against the Anaheim Ducks and were kind enough to do the Sharks a favor and beat the Ducks 2-0. Ullmark made 23 saves for the shutout.
For those of you playoff race watching, that loss allowed the Vegas Golden Knights (F*** Vegas) to leapfrog the Ducks back into first in the Pacific Division.
Meantime, the Sharks’ win over Montreal, along with the Los Angeles Kings’ loss, allowed the Sharks to jump into the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Sharks are just three points behind Edmonton for the third spot in the Pacific Division, with three games in hand. San Jose is also four points behind the Utah Mammoth for the first spot in the wild card race with three games in hand. Today’s slate of games will eat up one of those games in hand against the Mammoth, but the Oilers are in action against the Nashville Predators.
As for San Jose’s opponent today, the Ottawa Senators are also in the middle of a playoff battle. The Senators are on the outside looking in as of this morning with 75 points, five points back of the Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins, who hold the wild card spots in the Eastern Conference. Every point matters just as much to the Senators as it does to the Sharks. The good news is that while we’d prefer a regulation win, a three-point game won’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
The Senators’ top scorer is Tim Stutzle, who has 70 points in 64 games. He also leads the team with 30 goals. Drake Batherson is second on the team in scoring with 57 points in 61 games and 25 goals. Linus Ullmark is currently sharing netminding duties with James Reimer. Ullmark is 19-9-7 with a .883 save percentage. Reimer 4-3-1 with a .882 save percentage. It’s possible that with Ullmark playing yesterday, we’ll see our old friend Reimer in the net today.
Jake Sanderson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, so he is unlikely to play for the Sens today against the Sharks. Nick Jensen is also reportedly out with a lower-body injury.
San Jose Sharks lines today
With the Sharks traveling and playing on the second of back-to-back games, we’re assuming that the lineup won’t change much. It’s hard to fathom Igor Chernyshov playing after that devastating injury he suffered last night, so we’re putting him out of the lineup. The Sharks will also likely want to have a bit more grit in tonight, so Ryan Reaves will likely play. Here’s the projected lines according to NHL.com.
Update: It sounds like it’s Pavol Regenda getting into the lineup in place of the injured Chernyshov according to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng. We imagine that means Ryan Reaves will sit again.
Also, Laurent Brossoit gets the start in net today since Alex Nedeljkovic played yesterday. This is why General Manager Mike Grier traded for Brossoit after all, to have a reliable backup just in case there was an injury.
Forwards
Collin Graf — Macklin Celebrini — Will Smith
Adam Gaudette — Alexander Wennberg — Kiefer Sherwood
William Eklund — Michael Misa — Tyler Toffoli
Barclay Goodrow — Zack Ostapchuk — Ryan Reaves
Defense
Dmitry Orlov — John Klingberg
Mario Ferraro — Shakir Mukhamadullin
Sam Dickinson — Vincent Desharnais
Goaltenders
Laurent Brossoit
Alex Nedeljkovic
Ottawa Senators lines vs. San Jose Sharks
Since Ullmark played on Saturday against the Ducks, look for Reimer in the net against the Sharks. Other than that, we don’t expect many changes from the lines that the Senators used against the Ducks. This is what we expect the Senators’ lines to look like today, according to NHL.com.
SECOND UPDATE: Sounds like they don’t want Reimer tonight against the Sharks and are going with the hot hand. Ullmark gets the second straight start.
Forwards
Drake Batherson — Tim Stutzle — Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk — Dylan Cozens — Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins — Shane Pinto — Michael Amadio
Warren Foegele — Lars Eller — Fabian Zetterlund
Defense
Thomas Chabot — Artem Zub
Tyler Kleven — Jordan Spence
Dennis Gilbert — Nikolas Matinpalo
Goaltenders
James Reimer
Linus Ullmark
How to watch San Jose Sharks at Ottawa Senators, March 15, 2026
The puck drops at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
Sharks fans can watch today’s game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Senators fans can watch the game on TSN5.
Be sure to come back here at game time to talk with other Sharks fans about what’s happening on the ice and around the league. There are six games happening today, including the Ducks playing the Canadiens, the Edmonton Oilers playing the Nashville Predators and the Florida Panthers playing the Seattle Kraken.
