San Jose's Evander Kane scored twice, and Brent Burns had three assists to cool down the NHL's hottest club as the Sharks beat the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Saturday.
Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Lukas Radil also had tallies for the Sharks, and Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier each posted two assists for the Sharks, who have won four of five and are 11-3-2 in their last 16.
Martin Jones recorded 17 saves, and Aaron Dell stopped one shot when Jones went to the bench after losing a skate blade on Tampa Bay's second goal.
Defensemen Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev scored goals for the Lightning, whose 16-game points streak ended, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 of 33 shots.
Tampa Bay lost in regulation for the first time since Nov. 27, is 18-2-1 in its last 21 contests and went 2-1-0 on its California road swing.
The Sharks scored twice in a span of 34 seconds to stun the streaking Lightning in the first period, and Karlsson, Pavelski and Burns -- all selected this week to play in the 2019 All-Star Game in San Jose -- played major parts in the early lead.
Karlsson triggered a quick breakout pass to Meier that led to Couture burying his 16th goal, and Pavelski chipped in his team-high 25th tally on a cross-ice pass from Burns at 10:01.
The assist by Karlsson gave the defenseman helpers in 12 straight appearances. The streak was interrupted by a two-game suspension in late December.
Hedman took advantage of a slow line change by San Jose to slip in his fifth goal late in the period as Tampa Bay attempted to rally from its 11th 2-0 deficit to open a game, winning six of the previous 10.
With Meier screening Vasilevskiy in the second period, Kane whipped in a power-play marker for a 3-1 lead, but Sergachev popped in his first goal of the season 30 seconds later.
Just over five minutes into the third period, Kane sniped in his 14th goal from an extremely sharp angle for a 4-2 Sharks lead. The goal was the 200th of the left wing's career.
Radil put in a rebound for the final goal, and Jones locked down the Lightning in the third period to record his 18th win.
--Field Level Media
Tampa Bay | San Jose | |
Victor Hedman 1 | Points | Brent Burns 3 |
Victor Hedman 1 | Goals | Evander Kane 2 |
Ryan Callahan 1 | Assists | Brent Burns 3 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Evander Kane 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Andrei Vasilevskiy .848 | Save Percentage | Aaron Dell 1.000 |
Andrei Vasilevskiy 28 | Saves | Martin Jones 17 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Tampa Bay | 20 | 2 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 6 | 30 |
San Jose | 33 | 5 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 30 |