Lightning strike often in 5-1 defeat of Sharks

Wednesday night was a match-up of offensive and defensive strengths in San Jose.

Offense won the night with the Tampa Bay Lightning posting a convincing 5-1 win over the Sharks.

The Bolts were led by their dynamic first line of Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov and Steven Stamkos; the line combined for nine points in the win.

Namestnikov struck for two goals, Kucherov added a goal.

Stamkos kicked in three assists in the win.

“It’s a treat to play with him (Kucherov),” Stamkos said. “And [Namestnikov] too. I know he slides under the radar. But he had a fantastic game tonight and was a huge part of our line. We obviously have a lot of fun, but we work hard. We’re always trying to improve.

“Tonight was a night where maybe things weren’t bouncing our way early on but our line played well and just kept building on it. It was nice to get rewarded.”

Jake Dotchin and Slater Koekkoek had single markers for Tampa Bay.

After a 1-1 tie heading to the second frame, the Bolts adjusted their game to the Sharks’ defensive scheme and buried the puck early in the second to take the lead.

“There was a lot said in between the first and second,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We had seven shots on goal and we were passing up Grade-A chances. It’s pretty clear that that wasn’t working for us. They started getting after it a little bit in the second and it worked out.”

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves to pick up the win.

“When you play an elite team, you have to bring your ‘A’ game and we didn’t do that across the board. When you bring your ‘B’ game, you see what happens. We didn’t do anything well, ” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said after the dismal response to the Bolts’ second period effort.

The Lightning improved to 12-2-2 on the season and are certainly the class of the NHL so far this campaign.

Joonas Donskoi scored for the Sharks with just 25 seconds gone in the game for a 1-0 lead; it didn’t go well after that goal.

“As the game went on, we just didn’t reset ourselves,” San Jose’s  Joe Pavelski said. “We kept missing passes and just fed their rush. They’re good players, for sure. They made some plays, played with the puck a lot. And partly that’s on us. Any time we had it we seemed to give it back to them.”

[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Sharks highlights]

Martin Jones got the start for the Sharks but yielded four goals and was given the hook after the second intermission.

Aaron Dell mopped up in the third period.

“Our game tailed off,” the Sharks’ Logan Couture said. “We turned pucks over, didn’t forecheck. They felt comfortable. They had the puck all night. They’re so talented. All four lines are fast. They outskated us all over the ice. It seemed like they had five more skaters than we did.”