The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to kick off their Western road swing with a bang last night, as they defeated the San Jose Sharks by a score of 5-2. The win moves the Bolts back into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division, though the teams around them do have games in hand. It was also their first victory at the SAP Center in San Jose since 2003.
It’s difficult to understate just how important last night’s win was for Tampa Bay. Losers of two straight heading in, the Lightning needed to right the ship; they did just that.
While it was a fairly even game in terms of puck possession, the Lightning were able to take advantage of their opportunities and the Sharks weren’t. I spoke about that in the pre-game blog. San Jose has had difficulty keeping the puck out of their net this season, thanks in large part to some shaky goaltending from Antti Niemi. The Lightning were able to take advantage.
It started with only 16 seconds left in the first period. After battling through an evenly played first frame, the Lightning opened the scoring courtesy of Steven Stamkos’s 30th of the season. With a delayed penalty upcoming for San Jose, Stamkos simply fired a bomb from the point that eluded Niemi.
Alex Killorn extended the Tampa lead to 2-0 just over seven minutes into the second period when he tipped a Ryan Callahan shot past Niemi for his 12th of the season.
San Jose battled back and cut the deficit to one at about the midway point of that middle frame when Logan Couture rifled a wrist shot past Ben Bishop from the slot. It’s a goal that Bishop might want back, but on an otherwise stellar night for him it’s hard to nitpick. Couture’s goal gave San Jose life, but it was snuffed out in short order.
The snuffing agent came in the form of Ondrej Palat. Just 10 seconds into the third period, Palat fired a shot that deflected off the Sharks defender and past Niemi. It was a tough way to start the third period for a San Jose team that likely believed it had some life after a spark from Couture’s second period goal.
However, not wanting to make things boring for the crowd in attendance at SAP, the Bolts started playing with fire. Jonathan Drouin and Nikita Kucherov took minor penalties early-ish in the third, which gave the Sharks an opportunity to get back in the game once again. They failed to cash in on the Drouin penalty, but they made no mistake on the Kucherov minor. Brent Burns deftly tipped a Patrick Marleau pass/shot past Bishop for the score at 11:38; that brought San Jose back to within one with time remaining on the clock.
That was until the dump truck went to work.
Cedric Paquette restored the Lightning’s two-goal lead, and all but sealed the deal, with his 12th of the season at 16:19. Assisted by Valtteri Filppula and Jason Garrison, Paquette simply wired the puck past Niemi with a great wrist shot from the faceoff circle. It’s a goal Niemi needs to have in a one-goal game. He didn’t. It cost his team.
Before the final buzzer rang, Ryan Callahan put the puck into an empty net for his 17th of the season. It was fitting that Callahan scored the empty net marker, as he had a goal ‘stolen’ from him by that Alex Killorn tip in the second period. The result of Callahan’s goal was a 5-2 Lightning lead. That’s when the fat lady started singing.
Getting wins out of California is always a challenge. The fact that the Bolts were able to start their trip out on the right foot is so, so important. They have a chance to keep it going tonight, as they’ll be in Los Angeles for a date with the Kings at Staples Center. Tonight's game serves as an opportunity for the Lightning to seek revenge after dropping a 4-2 decision to the Kings at Amalie Arena earlier this month. Like the Sharks, the Kings are also a desperate team right now. Tampa Bay will need to be ready.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.