In San Jose, the Tampa Bay Lightning took some of their frustrations out on the Sharks on Saturday. The Lighting scored four times in the first period and cruised to a 7-1 win.
Ross Colton scored the first and last goals in the rout.
“I knew that was how we were going to respond,” the Lightning’ Steven Stamkos said about their 5-1 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. “Obviously, we executed very well. But to come out like that, on a back-to-back. … To come out and have that effort, have that jump at the beginning was impressive. Just a nice, well-rounded game for us today.”
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“I thought we turned it on a little bit toward the end of the game, but from the puck drop we needed to be ready to go, and that was the kind of attitude that we wanted to have tonight,” Colton said.
Brian Elliott made 27 saves in the Bolts win.
“There was a renewed focus, they knew what they had to do and they delivered,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We addressed some things in the pregame and there’s the result.”
Stamkos and Alex Killorn added single strikes for the Lightning.
Tampa Bay improved to 28-10-5.
Jaycob Megna was the lone striker for the Sharks.
“It should be a wake-up call,” the Sharks’ Andrew Cogliano said. “If that game doesn’t alarm you in terms of how fast you can be out of position and how fast you can go the other way coming up on the [road} trip we’re coming up on, at the end of the day you shouldn’t be in the lineup, to be honest with you.
“That’s an alarming game in terms of just everything.”
The Sharks fell to 21-19-2.
“Our first 10, 15 minutes were a disaster,” Sharks head coach Bob Boughner said. “I think this is the benchmark if you want to play with the big guys. You have to compete, you have to bring your A-game. It starts with showing up.”
Mathieu Joseph and Corey Perry scored in the Lightning’s first period barrage.
“We’ve been good all year, I’m not challenging this team’s will or their passion or their urgency,” Boughner said. “But it was one of those nights where we were outcompeted and it was men amongst boys. It was as simple as that.”
Brayden Point m also scored for Tampa.
James Reimer yielded four goals in the opening frame before getting the hook, he made nine saves.
“I think we gave them a little too much respect. They’re a powerhouse of a team,” Reimer said. “We were just caught off guard a little bit.”
Adin Hill made 15 saves in the mop up.
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