By: Phillip Torres
TAMPA BAY-The San Jose Sharks (31-12-6) defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning (28-16-5) 5-4 on Saturday in Florida. The Lightning were up 4-2 at one point but could not hold off a late Sharks rally to hang on for the victory. San Jose rallied behind Joe Pavelski and his three goals to complete the come-from behind win.
Martin St. Louis was outstanding for Tampa Bay. St. Louis scored four goals in a game for the first time in his career and was the first Lightning player to do so since 1992. Pavelski stole the show from St. Louis and the home crowd in Tampa with his three goals in a span of 6:12 that happened late in the second period.
The Sharks opened up the scoring in the first period with a goal from Matt Nieto, who scored on a wrist shot at 9:46. The goal was assisted by Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingles. St. Louis scored all three goals for the Lightning in the opening frame, completing his eighth career hat trick in less than 20 minutes. Marleau also scored on wrist shot for the only other San Jose goal in the first period. Nieto and Wingles assisted on the goal to earn another point on the night.
St. Louis scored his fourth goal of the game at 2:07 in the second period to extend the lead to 4-2 for Tampa Bay. The slapshot goal from the eventual first star of the game was assisted by Teddy Purcell and Tyler Johnson. The goal was the last score for the Lightning as the game was controlled by Pavelski late in the same frame.
Pavelski scored his first goal at 12:48 on a wrist shot that found the net. Tyler Kennedy and Jason Demers both contributed an assist on the play. Less than 30 seconds later Pavelski scored on another wrist shot to tie the game at 4-4 on his 24th goal of the season. This time it was Dan Boyle and Marleau getting appointed the assists. With exactly one minute remaining in the period, Pavelski’s last goal was made with his third wrist shot. The score made it 5-4 San Jose, and the score remained that way throughout the contest.
The Sharks played great defense in the third and final period, as Antti Niemi pitched a shutout in the last period. The win gave the Sharks their 31st win on the season. San Jose will be back on the ice on Monday January 20, 2014 to take on the Calgary Flames at the SAP Center in San Jose. The puck will drop at 7:30 P.M.
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