In San Jose, Curtis McElhinney made 30 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Sharks, 3-0, on Saturday night.
“It’s great,” McElhinney said. “Obviously it’s been kind of up and down for me personally, but it was nice to get in there and solidify this trip with two points.”
The Sharks dropped to 22-27-4.
“We played a hard game, and I’d like to see us get off to a better start,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “But the penalty kill gave us a chance. Dell gave us a chance, he was great all night. We just couldn’t find that goal.”
Steven Stamkos scored once and added an assist in the win.
“It was tough to leave the [first] period without a goal after some of the chances we had,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “That’s why it was pivotal that we had to get the lead in the second because we were throwing everything at them.”
Nikita Kucherov scored and Ondrej Palat added an empty net goal late.
“That’s just part of the skill set that Kuch has,” Stamkos said. “Not too many players can make that play on their backhand like that. … He’s had two big goals for us the last couple of games, just tremendous plays by obviously a very elite player.”
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Sharks highlights]
Aaron Dell made 32 saves in the loss.
“That’s the nature of the NHL,” Evander Kane said. “There’s not a lot of time and space out there. You’ve got to make plays and decisions quickly. We just have to continue to try and do better.”
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