Alex Killorn had a goal and three assists, Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos each scored twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning walloped the visiting San Jose Sharks 7-1 on Saturday night.
Victor Hedman and Carter Verhaeghe notched a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who improved to 5-3-1 in their last nine games and snapped their three-game home losing streak.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made his third straight start and stopped 37 of 38 shots. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner's 228th outing in goal for Tampa Bay set the franchise record for career appearances.
Martin Jones made 17 saves for the Sharks, who have lost the first two games on their four-game road trip but are 11-4-1 in their last 16.
Aaron Dell relieved Jones after the Lightning's fourth goal to open the third period and stopped 14 shots.
Shortly after Tampa Bay killed off the first power play, the Lightning gained possession in front of Jones, and Verhaeghe fed a pass to Johnson in the high slot for his sixth goal at 3:10 and a 1-0 lead.
The Lightning also killed off a four-minute double-minor penalty when Mathieu Joseph went off for high sticking against Marcus Sorensen.
The Sharks failed to beat Vasilevskiy on any of three power plays, stretching their streak of futility to 0-for-22 in their last nine games with the man advantage.
After Vasilevskiy made a pair of strong saves in the second, the Lightning skated out on a strong rush, and a shot near Jones popped high above the ice and plopped into the low slot. Killorn found the puck and sent in his eighth goal, an unassisted, at 12:29 for a 2-0 advantage.
Kevin Labanc's double-minor for high sticking led to an extended Lightning power play at the period's end, and Stamkos drilled his seventh goal -- fifth on the power play -- into the corner for a 3-0 lead at 19:33.
San Jose entered the game with the league's top penalty-killing unit, having allowed just nine goals in 105 power plays by its opposition.
Hedman scored his seventh to chase Jones, and Stamkos set up Johnson's second to beat Dell inside the first four minutes of the third.
San Jose's Marc-Edouard Vlasic broke up the shutout at 14:44 with his fifth goal, but Stamkos scored for the second time on the power play.
Verhaeghe netted his first NHL goal with 25 seconds remaining in the game.
--Field Level Media
San Jose | Tampa Bay | |
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 1 | Points | Alex Killorn 4 |
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 1 | Goals | Steven Stamkos 2 |
Erik Karlsson 1 | Assists | Alex Killorn 3 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Steven Stamkos 2 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Aaron Dell .824 | Save Percentage | Andrei Vasilevskiy .974 |
Martin Jones 17 | Saves | Andrei Vasilevskiy 37 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
San Jose | 38 | 1 | 0-4 | 2-4 | 8 | 33 |
Tampa Bay | 38 | 7 | 2-4 | 4-4 | 8 | 30 |