TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos scored twice and NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov added a pair of assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-3 on Saturday.
Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist, and Alex Killorn, Mathieu Joseph and Yanni Gourde also scored for Tampa Bay, which is 6-2 since the Sharks ended the Lightning’s 16-game streak of consecutive games with a point on Jan. 5.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves and recorded his 20th victory of the season.
Evander Kane had two goals, and Marcus Sorenson also scored for the Sharks, who were without All-Star defenceman Erik Karlsson, who was a late scratch after participating in warmups.
Martin Jones stopped 20 shots and had his personal eight-game winning streak halted.
Stamkos put the game out of reach with two goals in the third period. He took a pass from Kucherov and scored on a wrist shot high to the stick side at 5:08, and added a power-play goal with a one-timer off a pass from Hedman at 14:15 for his 26th goal of the season. Stamkos reached the 25-goal mark for the ninth time in his career.
Kucherov’s two assists give him a league-leading 56 on the season. He has 78 points overall.
Joseph opened the scoring for the Lightning with his 12th of the season, taking a rebound of a shot by Anthony Cirelli and netting a backhand at 3:32. Killorn made it 2-0 on another rebound at 17:51.
Kane cut the lead in half with a power-play goal with 20.1 seconds left in the first period.
San Jose tied the game on the opening shift of the second period as Kane pounced on his own rebound off the end boards 58 seconds in.
But Gourde answered at 7:29, while Hedman scored a power-play goal at 12:01 to regain the two-goal edge.
NOTES: San Jose D Erik Karlsson was a late scratch after he left the ice early during pregame warmup. Karlsson missed practice on Friday. . Lightning RW Yanni Gourde scored his first goal since Dec. 29. Gourde has six game-winning goals this season. . Sharks’ D Marc-Edouard Vlasic missed his ninth consecutive game with a wrist injury. . Tampa Bay played its final game before going into its bye week.
UP NEXT
Sharks: At Florida Panthers on Tuesday
Lightning: At Pittsburgh on Jan. 30
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Erik Erlendsson, The Associated Press
