The San Jose Sharks have developed a pattern on this road trip. Actually, it’s been a recurring theme throughout the season.

Like most teams, the Sharks give themselves a chance when they take care of the puck, break out clean and establish a forecheck. When they fail to do those things, the results are usually pretty ugly.

Such was the case on Sunday, as the Sharks were their own worst enemy in a 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

A host of giveaways, including one on a go-ahead goal by Drake Batherson with less than seven minutes left in the third period, proved to be the Sharks’ undoing in a sloppy performance at the Canadian Tire Centre.

“We didn’t match the physicality well enough,” Sharks winger Collin Graf said. “They really took it to us in the corners and in battles. That’s sort of what led to our loss.”

With the game tied 4-4, Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov retrieved the puck below the goal line and sent it behind the net, trying to find John Klingberg.

Instead, the pass went straight to Claude Giroux, who sent the puck back to Artem Zub. The defenseman’s shot from just inside the blue line went off Batherson and past Sharks goalie Laurent Brossoit for a 5-4 Senators lead.

“Rimming pucks out of the defensive zone was an issue,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Rimming pucks when we don’t need to rim pucks is an issue.”

Mario Ferraro, Tyler Toffoli, Graf, and Michael Misa all scored for the Sharks, who fell to 2-2-0 on a five-game road trip that ends Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Brossoit, who was starting his first NHL regular-season game since April 2024, stopped 17 of 23 shots.

Great play by shortstop Claude Giroux to keep this puck in the zone. Tim Stützle has tied a career-high 14 game point streak (set last season). pic.twitter.com/SdJgd20HZ3

— Andrew Wilimek (@AndrewWilimek) March 12, 2026

The Sharks (32-27-6) also struggled with puck management in their road trip-opening 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on March 10. The Sharks did a much better job of limiting turnovers in subsequent wins over the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.

“That’s a team that’s battle tested, (made the) playoffs last year, fighting for their lives,” Warsofsky said of the Senators, who are now within three points of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. “The way they play is physical. They get on their forecheck. We saw that right right away.”

The Sharks announced before the game that they would be without center Alex Wennberg, who was unavailable with an upper-body injury.

Wennberg usually matches up against the opposing team’s top line and plays in all situations, and Warsofsky said he didn’t have a timeline for how much more time Wennberg would have to miss. Wennberg is third on the Sharks with 43 points in 64 games, and is second among the team’s forwards in average ice time (20:37).

Philipp Kurashev stepped into Wennberg’s spot as a middle-six center, a role he might have to continue to play.

“I thought (Kurashev) did a good job stepping in there,” Warsofsky said. “But let’s be honest, Wennberg is one of our best players. So anytime you lose one of your best players, you suffer a little bit.”

The Sharks on Sunday trailed 4-3 going into the third period, as the Senators scored goals after three San Jose giveaways.

Senators forwards Warren Foegele and Fabian Zetterlund scored goals after Ferraro and Shakir Mukhamadullin gave the puck away along the boards. Zetterlund’s goal came on a blast from just inside the blue line, as he tied the game at the 13:40 mark.

Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven broke the tie 65 seconds later, taking a pass from Zetterlund after a Graf giveaway in the Sharks zone, and beating Brossoit to the short side for his third goal of the season.

Graf was attempting to send a backhand pass through in the defensive zone, but didn’t get all of the puck.

“It’s a mistake that can’t happen,” Graf said. “It’s just poor execution on my part. For the rest of the period, I think it was sort of just the same idea.”

Brossoit, recalled by the Sharks from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL on Friday, a day after Yaroslav Askarov was lost to a lower-body injury, was making his first NHL regular-season start in almost two years. Brossoit is 11-2-1 in 14 games with the Barracuda.

On Jan. 8, the Sharks acquired Brossoit, defenseman Nolan Allan, and a 2028 seventh-round selection from the Blackhawks for the contract of defenseman Ryan Ellis, AHL defenseman Jake Furlong, and a 2028 fourth-round selection.

Brossoit has had a series of injuries and surgeries, with his last regular-season NHL start coming on April 18, 2024, when he made 18 saves to help lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

“At this point, it’s bittersweet. But during it was pretty surreal, and it’s been a long time coming,” Brossoit said of returning to the NHL. “I’m more grateful and appreciate being out there than I ever have. So not the result I wanted. But it’s not all bad. We’ll look at the game tape and be ready for the next one.”

It was not immediately known when Askarov would be healthy enough to play again. After Tuesday, the Sharks return home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

CHERNYSHOV UPDATE

Sharks forward Igor Chernyshov did not dress on Sunday after he sustained a concussion the previous night against the Montreal Canadiens. It was unclear when Chernyshov would be healthy enough to play. Pavol Regenda took Chernyshov’s spot in the lineup.