In Tampa Saturday night, the San Jose Sharks got a complete game effort across the bench in a 3-1 win over the Lightning.
Martin Jones stopped 25 shots in the win.
The win gave the Sharks three straight to open their six-game roadie.
Patrick Marleau, Tommy Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic were the goal scorers.
“They’re obviously one of the better teams in the League and a very highly skilled group over there,” Marleau said. “We knew we had our work cut out for us tonight, and the guys did a good job.”
WATCH: All Sharks vs. Lightning highlights
Anton Stralman scored for the Bolts.
“I think this might be the best game on the trip,” Sharks center Tomas Hertl said. “The third goal was good for the power play. To put them down three goals, it’s really hard to come back. It was important.”
Ben Bishop made 17 saves in the loss.
“We had some quality looks, but we could do a better job of putting some pucks toward the net,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “A lot of skill players make a lot of nice plays, but they don’t always result in quality scoring chances.”
Down state from Tampa in Sunrise, the Flo9rida Panthers got a goal from Denis Malgin with less than a minute remaining in extra time to edge the New York Islanders, 3-2.
“We always believed we could win because we had very good chances but (we) didn’t score,” Malgin told Fox Sports Florida. “We just kept going and we scored finally that second one [in regulation] and then we scored in overtime.”
The Panthers rallied form a 2-0 deficit in the third period and forced the overtime session on a goal from Jonathan Marchessault with 14 seconds left in the game.
WATCH: All Islanders vs. Panthers highlights
Kyle Rau scored earlier in the third period to get Florida on the board.
“That was a huge one for us to come back and win,” Rau told the Panthers website. “It shows a lot about the guys in the locker room. We never stopped believing.”
Brock Nelson and Nick Leddy were the goal scorers for the Isles.
“We had the lead, we just lost it,” Nelson said. “A shot just finds a way. It’s one of those ones where you just want to somehow let it hit you or get in front of it or bear down a little more. One of these ones is going to go our way for sure. We just have to keep working.”
Jaroslav Halak took the loss on 40 saves.
“We’re playing some good hockey, but guys can’t catch a break,” Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. “The puck hitting the referees when we’re trying to clear it or one of those [shots] that squeezes by [Halak] from the half wall. We just have to focus on the positive things.”
Roberto Luongo made 19 saves for the win.
In Calgary, the New York Rangers returned to winning after having their five-game streak snapped during the week.
Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves in a 4-1 win over the Flames.
“It’s impressive to see how we create chances every game,” Lundqvist said. “Sometimes it’s tough against different lineups, different systems, but we’ve been able to create a lot of scoring chances. Even the games we haven’t scored a lot, we’ve had a lot of chances to do so. It gives the team a lot of confidence knowing we can score if we really have to.”
The Rangers put a clinic on in passing as they swarmed the Flames’ net and left the defensemen scrambling to find the puck.
Michael Grabner opened the scoring in the first period and Derek Stepan, Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich added goals in the win.
“We’re playing a fast game,” said Grabner, who had nine goals in 80 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. “That works in my favor. I’ve been clicking with my linemates … the guys I’ve played with. I’ve had a few different linemates and I seem to be going well with each one of them.”
Brian Elliott made 24 saves and was left spinning in the crease to catch up with the puck.
WATCH: All Rangers vs. Flames highlights
“Everybody’s a good hockey player in here,” Elliott said. “It’s about coming together and playing as a team and not getting down. The key to confidence is keeping each other up and (if) things don’t go your way, keep pushing. You keep pushing and you don’t give up.”
Micheal Ferland was the Flames’ goal scorer.
“They’re a good team, but I mean, we’re a really good team too. We just get too down on ourselves right now,” Flames defenseman Brett Kulak said “They scored one early. We’ve got to keep that thought, like not the same old song and dance out of our head.”
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