Ben Harpur and Mikkel Boedker scored 49 seconds apart in the second period as the Ottawa Senators spoiled the return of former defenseman Erik Karlsson in a 6-2 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

Harpur's first NHL goal and Boedker's third of the season broke a 1-1 tie and put the Senators in position to win their third straight game.

Ryan Dzingel, Mark Stone, Magnus Paajarvi and Bobby Ryan also had goals, Boedker added three assists for a four-point game, and goalie Craig Anderson won his third straight start by making 36 stops.

Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Sharks, who have dropped the first four games of their five-game road trip that ends in Montreal on Sunday. Martin Jones made 21 saves.

The matinee matchup focused on the return of Karlsson, a popular figure and captain during his stellar nine-year career in Ottawa. The Swedish blueliner was a two-time Norris Trophy winner, claiming the award as the NHL's top defenseman in 2012 and 2015.

Karlsson, 28, was traded to San Jose on Sept. 13, less than a month before the season began as Ottawa entered a rebuilding phase within the organization.

Karlsson registered team-highs with nine shots and 24:55 of ice time in his first game in an opposing sweater against his former team and was busy right away.

San Jose applied some late pressure and outshot the Senators 8-5 in a scoreless first period. Karlsson fired often from near the blue line and put four shots on Anderson and had another blocked -- nearly matching Ottawa's entire offensive output.

Dzingel potted his 11th goal when he snared a rebound off Thomas Chabot's long shot and flipped it past Jones for a 1-0 lead at 7:30 of the second period.

Thornton finished a cross-ice pass from Joe Pavelski for his fourth goal, a power-play marker at 9:49, but Harpur scored his first career goal in his 60th game when he beat Jones on the glove side for Ottawa's second lead.

The speedy Boedker took a long pass from Zack Smith less than a minute later and scored on a breakaway as Ottawa built a 3-1 advantage through two periods.

Stone scored his 12th on the power play, Paajarvi his third into an empty net, and Ryan recorded his sixth. Anderson allowed just Goodrow's goal to get the win.

--Field Level Media