Category: NHL

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks had decent homestand start out on three game road trip

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San Jose Sharks players celebrate after tying the game in the third period to make it 3-3 during the game between the San Jose Sharks and the Minnesota Wild on December 10, 2017 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA (Photo by Samuel Stringer/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

San Jose Podcast with Len Shapiro:

1 The Sharks after winning twice at home against Carolina and Ottawa faced tricky Minnesota who battle with the Sharks. The Wild held a 3-0 lead and saw the Sharks come back Sunday night to tie it only to have the Wild’s Nino Niederreiter score the game winning goal to get a 4-3 OT win

2 The Sharks at one time down 3-0 in the second period had to hustle out by scoring three straight to force the OT

3 The Sharks got five of six points on the homestand for what was a realatively good outing for San Jose

4 Now the Sharks open a three game homestand starting with Calgary, then Vancouver and Edmonton. The Sharks goal Aaron Dell is the percentage leader has won five in a row now for the Sharks

Len Shapiro does the Sharks podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sharks Come Back to Pick Up Point, Lose to Wild in OT 4-3

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

Minnesota Wild’s Nino Niederreiter, left, celebrates his game-winning goal with teammate Eric Staal during overtime of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks fell in overtime to the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at SAP Center on Sunday night. The point was hard won as the Sharks had to come back from a three goal deficit. Eric Staal scored twice for Minnesota, Ryan Murphy added another goal and Nino Niederreiter notched the overtime winner. Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl scored two goals for the Sharks. San Jose goaltender Martin Jones made 20 saves on 24 shots, while Minnesota goaltender Alex Stalock made 31 saves for the win.

After the game, Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said:

It was a gutsy effort by us. It was our sixth game I think in ten nights, including traveling back from the East last week. Back to back, against a team that was rested and waiting for us. I knew we would probably start slow, we didn’t expect to be down three but I thought it was a gutsy effort to get some points tonight.

Three times in the past four days, the Sharks fell behind by three goals and came back to tie the game. In Sunday’s game, there was no back and forth in the score. It was all Wild, then all Sharks.  DeBoer was asked why the Sharks tend to score in bunches after falling behind by two or more goals:

We have a resilient group, a confident group. In all those situations, we’ve shortened the bench and we have our top players are top players. And when they get that extra ice time and the ability to play without worrying about the score, thy have the ability to create some offense and put a lot of pressure on the other team. Unfortunately though you can’t ride those guys 25 minutes a night. So we’ve got to stop putting ourselves in those holes and for me, get a little but more out of the depth of the lineup.

The Sharks gave up two goals early in the first period. The first was a power play goal from Ryan Murphy at 4:19 with assists to Jason Zucker and Eric Staal. Murphy scored after a beautiful two pass sequence starting at the blue line, then going to the goal line and back up to the far side of the net. The execution was perfect, but the Sharks probably should have gotten in the way of one of those passes.

The second goal came at 10:27 from Eric Staal with assists to Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund. A key factor was a bump to Brent Burns near the blue paint from Staal. He pushed Burns into Jones and the two Sharks both went down. Staal retrieved the puck and took the shot before Jones could get back in position.

The third Minnesota goal was a wraparound from Staal. Staal jammed the puck between Jones’ skate and the post. The NHL reviewed the play and confirmed it. DeBoer followed up with a challenge for goaltender interference, but it was rejected. Assists went to  Murphy and Granlund.

The Sharks got a surprising opportunity during a penalty kill with less than three minutes left in the second period as Dylan DeMelo was in the box when Eric Staal and Ryan Murphy went to the box at the same time. Murphy’s penalty was delayed and Staal’s holding penalty came during the delay. With just six or seven seconds left in the five-on-three portion of the power play, Burns took a shot from the faceoff circle and scored. Assists went to Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl.

Two minutes into the third period, Gustav Olofsson went to the box for tripping. Forty seconds into the penalty, Burns took a shot from the center of the blue line and beat Al Stalock over the left shoulder. The lone assist went to Joe Pavelski.

The Sharks tied the game after a series of three astonishing attacks on the Minnesota net. Tim Heed took a shot that Stalock stopped, but he dropped the puck and it was in play again–with the Sharks swarming. Finally, Hertl’s shot found its mark. Assists went to Kevin Labanc and Dylan DeMelo.

At the end of regulation, the shot count was 33-22 Sharks, with the third period count 14-7 in favor of the Sharks.

Overtime started with some energy from the Sharks, but in the second minute it fell into a lull with the Wild, circling the Sharks in the Sharks’ zone. After what seemed an interminable period, the Sharks finally broke out, but they had barely been able to change when Niederrieter broke in and took a shot for the win.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Calgary against the Flames at 6:00 pm PT.

NHL Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Burns thrills fans in OT win over Canes; Sens continue dreadful loss streak; Seattle to get NHL team

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Photo: Renderings of Oak View Group’s proposed KeyArena renovation. (Oak View Group Image)

On the NHL Podcast with Daniel:

1 Brett Burns scores OT goal, Sharks nip Hurricanes

2 Kings defeat Ottawa in OT for Seventh straight win

3 Bettman says NHL will consider Seattle bid four Options for hockey in Houston reshaped by NHL Board of Governors

5 NHL salary cap projected to increase by $3million next season

Daniel does the NHL Podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Categories NHL

Sharks Score Five Again, Shut Out Slumping Sens 5-0

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Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

by M. Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks handed the Ottawa Senators a resounding defeat to the tune of 5-0 at SAP Center on Saturday night. The win followed up a surprising 5-4 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, when the Sharks led a furious comeback after trailing by three goals. Saturday’s goals came from Logan Couture, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Melker Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl. Couture, Pavelski, Brent Burns and Kevin Labanc all had multi-point games and back-up goaltender Aaron Dell made 25 saves for the Sharks’ shutout win. At the other end of the ice, Craig Anderson made 45 saves on 50 shots in a losing effort for the Senators.

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer said that San Jose’s goal was to start fast against Ottawa, avoiding the slow start that marked their previous game: “I liked our game. Compared to the game against Carolina, I thought we were really sharp and really carried over the way we played in the third period against them into tonight.”

The Sharks checked a lot of boxes in Saturday’s game, killing four of four penalties and scoring on two of seven power plays. Tim Heed returned after dealing with an upper body injury, and Paul Martin is scheduled to start a conditioning stint with the Barracuda. So much rosy news begs the question of whether the Sharks have reached a turning point in the season.

DeBoer would not say that it is a turning point, but he did say that the goals are important for more than the score: “It was nice to score some goals, nice to get some power play goals. Guys have been working awful hard, we generate a lot of chances and we haven’t finished enough this year. So it was nice to have a night like that. Whether we can do that again tomorrow night I don’t know. But confidence is a big part of scoring and there was a lot of guys feeling good about themselves tonight.”

Logan Couture opened the scoring near the midpoint of the first period. The Sharks had outshot the Sens 10-0 at the 12-minute mark. Dell had just fought off the Senators’ first couple of shots in a flurry of activity on the edge of his crease. After Hertl won a defensive zone faceoff, the Sharks went the other way fast, with Labanc making a lovely pass so Couture could beat Anderson as he moved across. Assists went to Labanc and Justin Braun.

At the end of the first period, the shot count was 16-6 San Jose.

Early in the second period, the Sharks had just come off of a power play when Vlasic blasted a shot past Anderson. Tim Heed caught a pass from Kevin Labanc from behind the net, and sent the puck across the ice to the waiting Vlasic.

The Senators were keeping pace at least in shots past the midpoint of the period, but the Sharks did not let up. Joe Thornton passed the puck backward behind the net to a trailing Pavelski, who quickly sent it back up above the goal line for Melker Karlsson to pop into the net.

The Sharks’ power play came to life in the third period with two goals, one early and one late. The first third period power play resulted from a fight between Marcus Sorensen and Ryan Dzingel, when Dzingel was given an extra minor for roughing. Pavelski tipped a quick Couture shot from high in the slot. A second assist went to Brent Burns.

The Senators appeared to have scored at 5:12, in a power play that followed soon after the Sharks’ fourth goal. Braun was in the box for slashing. Matt Duchene took a shot from the face off dot and Bobby Ryan pushed it in. The official waved it off and did not even stop play. On later review, the NHL concluded that the puck had not crossed the line before Vlasic swept the puck back out.

The final power play of the game came when Alex Burrows used the butt end of his stick to bloody Dylan DeMelo’s face. Burrows was ejected with a fighting major and a roughing minor. DeMelo received roughing minor as he went to the dressing room to be patched up. Tomas Hertl scored after catching a bouncing puck off of Erik Karlsson’s hand. Assists went to Brent Burns and Logan Couture.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 6:00 pm PT against the Minnesota Wild.

Burns’ OT Winner Caps Special Night By Special Teams in Sharks’ 5-4 Win Over Hurricanes

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – There are going to be a large number of San Jose Sharks fans standing around the water cooler tomorrow morning talk about turning the TV off in the middle of another Sharks blowout. They’ll talk about how it was déjà vu, the Sharks getting blown out for the third-straight game after losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals by a combined 9-3 margin then falling behind to the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 after 20 minutes at home Thursday night.

“It’s not how we would draw it up to start a game,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “We dug ourselves out of a hole. You’re going to win all kinds of different ways over 82 games in this league.”

But something special happened. Or rather something special teams happened. The Sharks scored a pair of power play goals and shorthanded goals to overcome a 3-0 deficit, forcing overtime against the visiting Canes. A storybook comeback deserves a happy ending, so Brent Burns scored just 22 seconds into overtime to cap a furious 5-4 Sharks comeback. Burns, the third Sharks’ skater to enter the offensive zone, skated around Sebastian Aho to pick up the puck in close and beat goaltender Cam Ward for his second goal of the year.

Joe Thornton moved up the all-time points list with two points (one goal, one assist). Barclay Goodrow, Logan Couture and Melker Karlsson also scored for San Jose, while Paul Martin returned to the lineup finishing with a +/- of -2.

“It was his first game back,” said DeBoer. “It looked like it was his first game back, trying to get some of the rust off. I don’t think that was the story of the game.”

Trailing 3-0 heading into the second period, the Sharks used the second-best penalty kill in the league to break up Cam Ward’s shutout. Melker Karlsson fed Chris Tierney to start a two-on-one rush down the ice. Tierney returned the favor, feeding Karlsson right on the opposite post. Karlsson’s blistering up-close shot ricocheted off the back of the net and out for his fourth of the year in his first game back in the lineup since December 1st.

“Coach [Peter DeBoer] said if we can get one it would change the momentum of the game,” said Thornton. “It definitely did.”

The Hurricanes briefly stymied the momentum the Sharks were gaining after Karlsson’s shorty, striking after a lax defensive effort around their own net. The Hurricanes managed to fire off a number of in-tight shots on Jones with the puck bouncing throughout the goal area with Jeff Skinner ultimately pushing the puck through a pile of bodies for a 4-1 Carolina lead with 5:16 left in the period.

The other half of San Jose’s special teams stepped up to cut the Carolina lead to two with Joe Thornton scoring a power play goal with 2:09 left in the period after Trevor Van Riemsdyk was given the gate for holding the stick in a scramble. The Sharks man-advantage entered the game tied for 24th in the league with a 16.7 percent success rate.

The power play did it again in the third period, using crisp passing by Brent Burns to set up a one-timer for Logan Couture. Joe Thornton picked up the secondary assist to help the Sharks pull within one 4-3 with 11:29 left to play. The helper pushed Thornton to 19th place on the all-time points list, tied with Dale Hawerchuk and his 1,409 career points.

“We haven’t been getting any,” said Thornton on power play opportunities. “It’s tough to get into a rhythm when you’re not getting any. Tonight we could finally get into a rhythm getting 3 power play chances. It’s nice to see you score some goals.”

The PK had to catch up to the PP goal-for-goal, so Barclay Goodrow did the trick, tying the game with 8:04 left in regulation. Jannik Hansen led the rush up the ice, but it was Goodrow’s hustle to beat two Hurricanes skaters across the blue line for a breakaway on Ward that made the difference.

“That’s what guys have to do to try to stay in the lineup,” said DeBoer. “He’s playing with that desperation.”

The comeback was great, but San Jose video coach Dan Darrow might as well delete any footage from the first period after a listless start domed the home team. The Hurricanes took advantage of a sleepwalking Sharks club, with defenseman Noah Hanifin crashing from his spot on the blue line to wind up in the slot unfettered. Hanifin took Derek Ryan’s pass from below the faceoff dot and rifled a one-timer that Jones saved. The rebound bounced to Sebastian Aho though, who beat Jones 9:10 into the period for a 1-0 lead.

The Canes capitalized on a rare bad break from Marc-Edouard Vlasic whose clearing attempt aimed at the boards deflected into the slot instead. Center Elias Lindholm came up with the puck, then passed it to Victor Rask just inside the faceoff dot to Jones’ left. Rask fired the one-timer home for a 2-0 Carolina lead 11:37 into the period.

Aho pulled a similar move to Hanifin’s earlier in the game to score his second of the match. The winger slid into the slot alone, took a pass from Teuvo Teravainen and potted his second of the game and seventh of the season with 5:46 left in the frame. Despite the three goals, the Hurricanes only produced five shots on goal in the period to the Shark’s six and looked well on their way to a win.

“With the travel we’ve had over the last week or two it hasn’t been easy at times,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. “It’s not an excuse. It took a few shifts to get it out of us.”

The five-goal performance Thursday might prove to be a preview for the weekend slate for the Sharks. San Jose will welcome a pair of opponents prone to giving up crooked numbers to the Shark Tank over the weekend, with the Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild making stops in Northern California over the weekend. Ottawa is currently sixth in the league, allowing 3.27 goals per game while the Wild allow 3, good for 13th place.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks come back from roadie licking their wounds and open up 3 game homestand Thu nite

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San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (19) fights Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

On the SJ Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa:

1 The Sharks who dropped their last two games in Tampa Bay on Saturday and the in Washington on Monday by a significant margins 5-2 and 4-1 respectively giving Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer reason to question how to create more offense.

2 In Washington the Sharks Joe Thornton got into a huge scrap after a second period collision with the Caps TJ Oshie. Oshie and Thronton who were going for the puck in the right corner had Thornton digging for the puck while Oshie was looking down at the puck and made contact with Thornton and the boards. The Caps said that Thronton intentionally drove Oshie into the boards Thornton contends he didn’t even see Oshie and that he didn’t force Oshie into the boards and Oshie collided with Thornton’s backside and went down.

3 In the third period Thornton dropped the gloves with the Caps Tom Wilson the fight brought major penalties to both Thornton and Wilson. Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said the Caps decision to fight for Oshie’s injury in the second period was garbage and that Wilson and the Caps should have addressed the issue in the second period when it happened instead of fighting in the third period.

4 The Sharks who have lost their last two games are struggling on Monday night they had Tim Heed, Melker Karlsson, Joonas Donskoi, Mikael Boddeker all out on injuries and Brandon Dillion was suspended Monday for a slash penalty from Saturday’s game in Tampa Bay

5 The Sharks open a three game homestand on Thursday night at SAP Center against Carolina they’ll play back to back nights on Saturday and Sunday against Ottawa and Minnesota. Mary tells us about the Sharks having the home ice advantage for this coming homestand.

Mary Lisa Walsh covers SJ Sharks hockey home and away each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sharks get Capitalized 4-1 Ovie scores game winner

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~ (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin’s goal propelled him to 20th on the NHL goals list as well, in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks Monday.

4-1 was also the score the last time Washington beat San Jose in regulation, back in 2009.

The Capitals capitalized as Ovechkin turned a miscue into a breakaway at 7:11 of the second. With an assist later in the game, it was his third point in two games, after a goal last match.

Washington has scored and the Sharks have given up their their third power play goal in two games.

In each of their last two games, the Capitals have scored four goals while San Jose have given up at least four goals since goalie Martin Jones came back from injury.

Both teams dominated in shots in different halves of the first period. Washington scored in their half as Devante Smith-Pelly made it 1-0 aided by John Carlson and Jay Beagle at 16:49.

Timo Meier got the Sharks back into the game helped by Justin Braun, the boards and Joe Pavelski on defense at 11:32 of the second.

At 18:00 though, Brenden Dillon was called for high-sticking.

It was a physical game of checking and it brought out frustrations as the Capitals were gunning for Sharks captain Joe Thornton after he hit T.J. Oshie with a upper body injury at 3:27 in second period and then the gloves dropped at 2:14 in the third period after the Caps had the second intermission to think about the Oshie hit.

“If someone were to grab Joe in the heat of the moment after the play because they thought a liberty was taken, then I’ve got no problem with that,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “But to go into the dressing room, think about it, come out in the first shift and do that premeditated crap is just garbage.”

Brett Connolly also scored his second goal in two games, assisted by Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov at 19:08.

With two attempts on net though, one from Ovechkin after, there was uncertainty though whether there were actual goals or just clangs off goalposts. After Connolly’s goal was confirmed, DeBoer issued an offside Coach’s Challenge, the goal was upheld and San Jose went back on the power play.

The Capitals made it 4-1 with another power play goal when Jakub Vrana was assisted by Tom Wilson and Dmitry Orlov.

Game notes: Washington’s T.J. Oshie left during the second with an upper-body injury after a hit by Joe Thornton. The Sharks’ Marcus Sorensen, who was called up due to injuries, had one shot on goal in 14 minutes of ice time. San Jose concluded with a 2-2 road trip. They play the first of a three game homestand Thursday versus the Carolina Hurricanes at 7:30pm.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks meet the crème de crème of hockey in Tampa Bay and Washington lose both

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Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) after scoring the second goal on San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones (31) during a NHL game between the Washington Capitals and the San Jose Sharks on December 4, 2017, at Capital One Arena, in Washington, D.C. The Capitals defeated the Sharks 4-1. (Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

On the SJ Sharks Podcast with Len:

The San Jose Sharks got outscored on this three game swing in Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington scoring three goals in five games. This just shows you the problems the Sharks are having and also the problems in the long term since the season started. The Sharks are next to last in the NHL in goals scored with 66 the team that’s on the bottom of the league in goals is the Buffalo Sabers with 56.

This just shows you what going on with the Sharks who are struggling they can’t put a good offensive game together on a regular basis. The game with the Washington Capitals on Monday night the Sharks couldn’t take care of the physicality of the Caps who were checking, checking players into the boards, and the end a four game road trip on the east coast and didn’t do it and the Sharks right now have three injuries with Joonas Donskoi, Melker Karlsson, and Tim Heed as they come back to San Jose to open a three game homestand starting Thursday night against Carolina.

Len has much more on this podcast join him each week for the SJ Sharks podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

NHL Podcast with Daniel Dullum: NHL power rankings; NHL only league not to allow players to Olympics; Habs back in contention; plus more

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Montreal Canadiens’ Paul Byron scores against Detroit Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL Podcast with Daniel:

1 NHL power rankings are out – a surprise or two; Sharks at No. 12

2 Leagues that will allow players to play in 2018 Olympics

3 Rivalries between stars, teams not always easy to create

4 Montreal back in playoff contention

5 NHL’s first Australian player hits waiver wire

Daniel Dullum does the NHL Podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose to Lightning 5-2 in Tampa Bay

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (19) is knocked down by Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat (18) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

by M. Walsh

The San Jose Sharks dropped the third game of this road trip to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 5-2. Two Lightning goals were scored by Tyler Johnson, two more by Nikita Kucherov and another by Cory Conacher. Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 stops in the game. Sharks’ goals were scored by Barclay Goodrow, who had just returned from injury, and Justin Braun. Martin Jones stopped 38 shots for the Sharks.

The loss was a modest improvement over their previous loss to Tampa Bay, a 5-1 loss in San Jose on November 8, but it ended a four-game winning streak for San Jose in Tampa Bay. The Lightning continue to dominate in the NHL standings, maintaining a slim lead over the Winnipeg Jets. Entering Saturday’s game, they had a record of 17-6-2. On the other hand, half of those losses came in their last four games.

Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer saw few bright spots in his team’s game. DeBoer said: “The good news was that our goalie was outstanding, he was by far our best player. He gave a us a chance going into the third to get some points tonight. But we didn’t have enough contributions. We would have needed 20 guys tonight plus Jonesy’s effort. They’re a desperate team and rested, and we didn’t help ourselves.”

Beyond that, DeBoer seemed willing to put the loss behind him and move on. DeBoer said: “We’re not going to be down here in a back-to-back with half our team out again so we don’t have to worry about that.”

Sharks forward Logan Couture expressed disappointment with the loss. Couture said: “They out played us again. You know, you can say we’re on a back-to-back and all, I know that but still got to show up and put forth a better effort than we did tonight.”

Later, Couture acknowledged that the team really is in a tough spot with injuries. Couture said: “You know, we’ve been playing good hockey. This is back-to-back, we got a bunch of guys go down within a few game period. It’s tough. You miss three forwards who usually play in your top nine, so other guys gotta step up and gotta find a way to be competitive.”

The Sharks’ injury list changed overnight between Florida games. Goodrow returned from injured reserve and Jones was ready to start. Joonas Donskoi and Tim Heed were placed on injured reserve, while Marcus Sorensen was called up from the AHL’s Barracuda. Sorensen did not play Saturday, but will be available Monday.

Both Heed and Donskoi’s IR status was retroactive to the last game they played. For Heed, that was November 25, and for Donskoi it was November 28.

Additionally, Melker Karlsson was not available after being injured Friday. Kevin Labanc was back in the lineup and got credit for four shots on goal, more than any other Shark Saturday.

San Jose did hang in there for the first two periods, but in the third, the Lightning took the Sharks apart. The Sharks scored first, the only goal of the first period. With just over three minutes left in the period, Ryan Carpenter made a cross-ice pass to Daniel O’Regan as he skated down the right side. O’Regan took the shot and the rebound went right to Goodrow on the left side. He had an open net from that angle and he put it away. Assists went to Carpenter and O’Regan.

The Sharks went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, but had been outshot 15-8 by Tampa Bay.

The Lightning’s first period effort paid off early in the second period, as Nikita Kucherov tied the game up just 27 seconds in. Ondrej Palat carried the puck in and the Sharks defense set up to prevent a cross-ice pass to Kucherov. In doing so, they left their goaltender to handle any shot from Palat. Instead of shooting, Palat took the pass and it made it through three defenders to Kucherov, who had Martin Jones moving across and not quite ready to stop his shot. Assists went to Palat and Brayden Point.

The Lightning again outshot the Sharks in the second period, this time 16-8.

Joe Thornton was called for high sticking Tyler Johnson at the end of the second period. The Lightning started the third period with 1:56 of power play time. At 1:39 of the third, Johnson scored a power play goal to give the Lightning the 2-1 lead. Palat shot the puck into the zone so that it came off the back boards while Johnson skated in and caught it right in front of Jones. Assists went to Palat and Mikhail Sergachev.

Johnson scored again after Victor Hedman got a breakaway and would have scored had Brenden Dillon not caught the puck on the goal line. As he cleared it from the crease, Johnson was coming in fast and the puck came right to him. He put it back in over Jones.

Cory Conacher scored at 11:01, after a shoot in from Dan Girardi caught Justin Braun inside the knee. Seeing the defenseman drop to the ice, Conacher skated by him and caught a cross-ice pass from Alex Killorn. His shot went over Jones’ left shoulder as the goaltender came across to follow the puck. Assists went to Killorn and Yanni Gourde.

Braun did not stay down for long, and returned to stop the bleeding at 13:37. Braun caught the puck after an offensive zone faceoff. His blue line shot went cleanly through five skaters to beat Vasilevski on the glove side. An assist went to O’Regan.

Nikita Kucherov came back with a fifth goal at 15:37 off a breakaway after Logan Couture tried to shoot the puck in from the blue line and it his Kucherov instead. The bounce gave Kucherov the head start he needed.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Washington DC against the Capitals at 4 pm PT.