By Barbara Mason

AP photo: The San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski (8) tries to wrap the puck around Tampa Bay Lighting goaltender Ben Bishop in the second period at Tampa Bay

Since the drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins the San Jose Sharks have looked very sharp.  They are off on a road trip that has turned up two wins in a row the first against the Capitals and the second against the Florida Panthers.  Saturday night they took on the Tampa Bay Lighting hoping to keep the winning streak going.

The first period was all Sharks as they came out fast and took a 2-0 lead.  The first goal was in question but after a review it was awarded to Patrick Marleau for his fourth goal of the season.  He was assisted by Paul Martin and Brent Burns.  That goal came at 7:18.  The second goal was off the stick of Tommy Wingels at 10:04 for his third of the season assisted by Chris Tierney and Melker Karlsson.  The period would end with the Sharks leading 2-0.

San Jose didn’t lose a beat coming out fast in the second period scoring at 8:52 for a 3-0 lead.  Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored assisted by Joonas Donskoi and Tomas Hertl.  This was Vlasic’s third goal of the season and his 50th career goal.  The Sharks were definitely spreading the wealth around.  Goalie Martin Jones was having a great game keeping the Lightning out of the net stopping some terrific shots by Tampa Bay.

The Tampa Bay drought came to an end in the third period when, at 5:43 Anton Stralman scored assisted by Cedric Paquette and Brian Boyle.  The score brought the comatose crowd to life with a lot of time left on the clock.   The Lightning were looking to open it up a bit skating with a lot more confidence now trailing by the score of 3-1.  At 17:00 Tampa Bay pulled their goalie to try to get something going.  The Shark defense would hold to win the game 3-1 in the sunshine state.

Martin Jones had a 25 save night.   The team has now won three games in a row but more importantly is the way the Sharks are now playing.  They are skating fast and not taking their foot off the gas pedal for three periods.  The fourth line has been terrific making themselves know.  “We started real well on this road trip.  I think we all think the same, trying to get the puck deep.  We just want to stick with our game game with no turnovers in the neutral zone,” said Chris Tierney a member of that most successful line.

The team will now head to Carolina for game four of this road trip Tuesday night.